


at night, when our worlds collide

by jaejaesus



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Farmer Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun, Farmer Mark Lee, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Late at Night, M/M, Mentioned Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Mentioned Moon Taeil, Prince Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Prince Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Romance, Secret Relationship, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, implied johnyong, lowercase intended, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25787521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaejaesus/pseuds/jaejaesus
Summary: “you may not know this, but i know the fact that you go out at night,” yukhei — doyoung’s adopted brother — told him during one of their trainings.“i know, it wasn’t even supposed to be a secret,” doyoung replied.when the heir to the throne and the son of a middle-class farmer meet at night, something magical happens.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Mark Lee/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Comments: 9
Kudos: 74





	1. rules are there for us to follow, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make our own

what exactly are the expectations for someone who is soon-to-be king? do the people expect him to always be perfect, being that one child every mother wants? do they expect him to always act like a royal, and never to act as the same as someone who works in the fields? do they expect him to always look neat, and never look like those who play in the fields with their friends?

the list goes on and on, and the person in question was very aware of these expectations. yes, doyoung knows the fact that soon, he was going to rule the nation of south korea, but sometimes, he wants to be someone living a simple life. to be able to talk with people without the attention on him, to be able to play out in the sun without having to hear the complaints of his mother as to why he ended up looking like one of the kids in the village.

a lot of people would want to live the luxury of being a royal, but when doyoung thinks about it, it was much better to live as a son of a farmer than to live like a royal. because, in all honestly, no one wants to be the center of attention.

“doyoung, you are at it again!” yukhei called out as he stood next to his brother.

“what do you want, yukhei?” doyoung asked him, seeing as his brother always has a purpose whenever he approaches him.

“training is starting soon. aren’t you going to change?”

_ah, training_ , doyoung thought as he followed yukhei out of the balcony.

it was always the same old, same old. they change into their fighting attire, go to the training grounds, meet up with their coach — johnny seo — and start their training. it was their routine, more like a _schedule_.

no, doyoung does not simply hate this, he _despises_ it.

as people can tell, doyoung was always the son who breaks the rules, and yukhei was the son that follows every word coming from his parents. despite that fact, doyoung was also very attentive to everything that was happening. he knows what goes on in and out of the palace. whenever they were gathered for a meeting, the council would sometimes confuse doyoung as king, and his father as the prince instead.

“doyoung, keep your head in the game. remember, when you are at war, anything can happen,” johnny reminded him, “always remember to focus. your enemies are everywhere.”

doyoung tried, he really did. he looked left and right, up and down. usually, during their training, johnny would ask him and yukhei to duel with each other, to test which of the two would be more capable to lead the soldiers during wars. and usually, doyoung would always be at a disadvantage.

the prince groaned as he held onto the area yukhei targeted him at. it wasn’t the real stuff, not like those they actually use during wars, but the effect was the same. once the target gets shot, they would be able to feel the pain and the agony that comes with it.

“doyoung, i told you to keep your head in the game. remember to always focus,” johnny reminded him.

doyoung nodded as he groaned, and johnny took this as a sign to end their session and leave the royals to change.

“i am so sorry doyoung. the training, it just got to me,” yukhei apologized as he helped the older stand on his two feet.

“it’s okay yukhei, it is just training. i didn’t die just because you shot me,” doyoung tried to joke.

“but doyoung, what if johnny would let us use real weapons? do you think you can survive like this time?”

doyoung looked at his brother oddly, and questioned him.

“why are you so serious about this, yukhei?”

“i just don’t want you to die, doyoung.”

“i will not die from training, yukhei. i am much stronger than that.”

the siblings continued to chat as they went out of the training grounds, through the halls, and finally, to each of their bedrooms.

but there was always one thought that would never leave doyoung’s mind.

_what if he was not born as someone who holds so much responsibility?_

it was just a thought, nothing too serious. anyone can think about anything.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

the sun shined through the windows of his room, symbolizing another day to live. his life wasn’t as great as those who live in the palace and those who live in mansions, but he couldn’t ask for more. he lives with his father and his cousin, what more could he actually ask from the heavens?

“jaehyun, get up! your father cooked breakfast for us,” he heard mark shout from the other side of the door.

“i’m coming! go ahead, i need to change.” jaehyun replied as he stood up from his bed, and stretched his limbs.

it was another day, meaning it was also another day of working in the farm. do not get him wrong, jaehyun loves working in the field. seeing how beautiful their crops came to be was one of the best feelings a farmer could feel. and it was even more beautiful because of the fact that he was spending time with the two most precious people to him. there was nothing more he could have asked.

“jaehyun, watch where you are going!” mark called out from the top of the hill.

“mark, we didn’t have to come here. we still need to help my father in managing the farm,” he replied as he continued to hike towards where mark stood.

“i completely remember your father telling us that we can do whatever we want today. plus, his workers are there. give yourself a break, jaehyun.”

“what break are you talking about? you are making me hike up a hill,” jaehyun said as he finally stood next to where mark was.

“and you know what that means?” mark asked, his eyes full of mischief.

jaehyun knows where mark was going with this, but he wasn’t in the mood. who knows who could see them from below, and that is embarrassing. imagine hearing their neighbors talk about the son of the farmer who kept acting as if he was jack from _jack and jill_.

“no mark, we are not going to act as jack and jill. a lot of the people alrady saw us. we don’t want ourselves to be the talk of the town again now, do we?” jaehyun said as he sat on the grass.

“you really are no fun,” mark replied as he sat on the grass next to the older.

it was moments like these that jaehyun wants to engrave in his memory. simple memories like these hold deeper meanings, and it was why he wants to make every second count.

as hours passed with them just sitting down on the grass, talking about whatever they could think about, the sun was starting to set. the skies full of purple and pink hues, as the sun that was once the brightest thing in the sky, was now replaced with thousands of stars, and the moon that shines brightly abpve them.

“we should always stay here until the sun goes down. it looks really beautiful,” mark said.

jaehyun didn’t reply, but he couldn’t agree more.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

the library, one of the places where doyoung would want to spend his free time. reading books and learn things that the walls of the palace he lives in could not offer. it was an ongoing list, and there was so much to learn. in one of the stories he had read, the author gave out a very detailed explanation of the night sky, and it was nothing like doyoung could imagine.

wanting to see if what the author described was true or not, doyoung decides to sneak out after dinner. it isnt like his parents would care if he was to go sneak out at night.

plus, what was the worst thing that could happen?

“doyoung, your thougths are so loud,” yukhei exclaimed.

“shut up, yukhei.”

dinner, the only time of the day that all of the royal family would be present in the dining hall. even with that, the family wouldn’t even say a word to each other besides a _good evening mother and father_ , and a _goodnight_ addressed to the both of them. it was understandable, the king and queen were always busy, managing the ties of south korea to the other countries, and managing the country as a whole. it was a very tired work, and doyoung still cannot see himself doing the things his father was doing.

sometimes, a thought would come across his mind. what if it was yukhei who becomes king instead of him? but then again, it will always end up as him. he was the oldest, and he was also the only one who had royal blood.

yukhei, he was the different one between the four of them, having to be adopted by the royal family because his own family abandoned him in front of the palace gates. the prince knows about his history, and he was grateful to the king and queen that they had took him in the moment they heard of him.

“that was a lovely dinner, but we really have to go, children. there will be a call from our neighboring country regarding the trades we have made this year,” the king explained as he stood up from his seat.

both doyoung and yukhei bowed to the king and queen as they exited the dining hall as a sign of respect. even when they were supposed to be their parents, the princes couldn’t help but be formal to them. that was the practice they were told to do by one of the instructors they had when they were younger.

as they finished eating their dinner, doyoung said his _goodnight_ to his younger brother, and happily skipped through the halls to his bedroom. it was the same halls, with the family portraits ever since the first generation of the royal family. whenever doyoung passes the portraits, he usually stops at theirs, but this time, he didn’t.

he was too excited to finally sneak out of the palace. there were opportunities that he would be able to go out, but that was because they had to show charity to the villagers who need it. this time, it was his time, a time where he wouldn’t mind the attention and the cameras on him.

in his bedroom, he changed into more simpler clothes, one that he thinks would help him blend in the crowd. it was his first time, so he isn’t so sure about the way he dress, but he is certain that he could be able to blend in.

bringing with him his lucky charm, doyoung took a deep breath, then exhaled.

_it was now, or never._

jaehyun was simply gazing at the stars above him. he tried to count them all, but whenever he tried, he ends up counting one star twice, and obviously, he gave up.

by this time, his father and mark were already fast asleep, but him, he wasn’t even feeling a little bit sleepy. it was like there was caffeine in his veins that was stopping him from feeling drowsy.

during times like these, he would have decided to draw the scenery, but it was a bit dark in his side of the house, and his heart wanted to see the stars, and what the heart wants, the heart gets. so that was how jaehyun ended up in the hill mark showed hum a couple of days ago.

_oh how beautiful was the night sky. if i was a star, would i shine as bright as the ones i see now_? that was what jaehyun was thinking.

to be a star is a person’s greatest dream, to be a star in their lover’s life. to be a star that any parent could be proud of. to be a —

jaehyun’s train of thoughts stopped when he thought he heard something, but then started to think again when he concluded that it was just his imagination.

_“why are there so many twigs? i can’t even step without making a sound!”_

jaehyun immediately stood up and stood in a fighting stance in the direction where he heard the voice.

that definitely was _someone_ and not just his imagination.

doyoung gulped as he sat in front of a stranger. he was aware that he was making noise, but he didn’t know that he was making that much noise.

“who did you say you were again?” the strange in front of him asked.

“i said, my name is dongyoung,” doyoung replied.

“dongyoung? isn’t that the name of the prince?”

“i am the prince, stranger. now, may i ask your name?” doyoung asked as politely as he can.

all he wanted to do was to look at the night sky and see if what was written in the stories he wrote was true, _not to be interrogated by a complete stranger_.

“how do i know if you are really _the prince_ as we speak. for all i know, you could be an imposter,” the stranger replied.

“are you really not telling me your name?” doyoung asked.

“i will, if you prove to me that you are the prince.”

doyoung sighed. this conversation was going nowhere, but yet, it was kind of entertaining to talk to someone who does not live in the palace.

“do you really not recognize my face?” doyoung asked as he tried to imitate the portraits of himself he remembered seeing.

“i do, but what if you are wearing a mask?”

“if i was wearing one, then i would have already removed it earlier,” the prince stated as a matter of fact.

doyoung was starting to grow concerned if he said a bad thing or not, because the stranger in front was not speaking at all. or maybe he was just overreacting, because the other started to speak once again.

“so you are saying, you are actually _the prince_?!” the stranger gasped.

“didn’t i already told you that? now, tell me your name.”

“oh right! my name’s jaehyun,” the stranger — _jaehyun_ told him.

“jaehyun would have been a nice name if you told me that first before you started interrogating me,” doyoung said.

“it isn’t everyday you see people getting lost in the woods,” jaehyun replied.

and that was how they spent their evening, talking about whatever comes to mind. but really, it was just jaehyun asking what kind of food does doyoung eat in the palace.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

“you seem to be in a good mood,” yukhei said as he sat in front of doyoung during breakfast.

doyoung just shrugged at him, and continued to think about his encounter with jaehyun last night. it wasn’t like the usual encounters he had whenever they meet with other royal families. it was something more meaningful, and it was obviously something worthwhile.

“stop smiling. you are giving me the creeps,” yukhei said with his mouth full.

“yukhei, where are your manners? don’t talk when your mouth is full,” doyoung reminded.

“kim doyoung, then why are you smiling to yourself?” the other asked.

“can’t i smile?’ doyoung asked back.

“i just didn’t know you had it in you.”

doyoung would have raised his knife at yukhei, but decided to keep that for later. they still had training, after all. and maybe, just maybe, he can defeat yukhei in their duel.

just a maybe, because doyoung is still not confident.

jaehyun clapped and gave out sounds of surprise with whatever story doyoung shared to him. the stories of what happens in the palace was very different to what he was taught when he was younger.

“now, where did you hear that from, jaehyun?” doyoung asked, amused at one of the comments jaehyun made earlier.

“my friend named taeyong told me. he said that his father was the royal family’s doctor, so every once in a month, his father would visit, then whenever his father comes back, his father would tell him that the palace has ghosts in them,” jaehyun shared.

“is that taeyong that you speak of is perhaps _lee taeyong_?” doyoung asked to clarify.

jaehyun gave out another gasp.

“you know him?”

“of course, i do. he took the medical duties from his father when he was just 15. i am quite surprised taeyong can actually say such statements,” doyoung said.

they continued to talk, doyoung still looking at jaehyun weirdly whenever the other would mention absurd things about the palace. the best part was when jaehyun told doyoung that the palace was haunted.

to be honest, at first glance, the palace does give that impression to people, but really, the clothes that people think were floating, was just being hanged. its just the lights give off a weird light that makes the object’s shadow distorted.

“oh doyoung, i have something to ask you,” jaehyun said.

“yes jaehyun?”

“why are you out here in the middle of the night? aren’t you supposed to be on your bed, sleeping?” jaehyun continued.

doyoung gave the questions a thought. he never really thought that his intentions would be questioned, but the funny thing was, no one knew he went sneaking out at night.

“oh jaehyun, those are just rules my parents want me to follow,” doyoung replied.

“then if your parents made you those rules, shouldn’t you follow?”

“how about you, then? shouldn’t you also be asleep?” doyoung asked back.

“i don’t know about you, doyoung. but my father once told me that we can always make our own rules instead of following them,” jaehyun said.

doyoung wanted to laugh at how silly the other looked. jaehyun has his arms crossed, and his expression looked like as if he just won the grand prize from the town’s cooking competition.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

another day, another schedule to follow. how many more years does he exactly need to follow this? doyoung can’t answer that just yet.

during the past week, he found himself sneaking out every night just to meet up with a person he just met. it would be a lie if doyoung says that he isn’t attached to a person easily, because it was obvious that he get attached to people easily, especially those who seem to have an interesting life.

what was kind of upsetting was that jaehyun only kept asking about the life in the palace, but it seems like everyone knows how the palace works. but doyoung, he just wants to know how the life of those who live outside the palace works.

“doyoung, you need to focus!” johnny called out.

_oh right, it was his training schedule at this hour_ , he thought then he got hit by the attacks yukhei made.

johnny called them for a break, then reminded doyoung to always focus on the duels. telling him that these duels could actually help him in the actual game, and so on.

when johnny was done, the coach excused himself so he could visit taeyong who was in the infirmary. today was the day where in they would do their monthly check-up, and during this day, johnny would always use it to try and win taeyong over, completely knowing that the doctor will _never_ say yes to him.

“hey doyoung, i am actually sorry about that,” yukhei said as he sat beside doyoung by the bench.

“yukhei, how many times will i tell you that it’s okay?”

“actually, that isn’t why i wanted to talk to you.”

“oh?” doyoung asked.

“i actually saw you sneaking out at night,” yukhei admitted.

doyoung would have panicked, but his action of sneaking out at night was never a secret to begin with, and that was exactly what he told yukhei.

“you know yukhei, me sneaking out at night was never a secret to begin with.”

this took yukhei’s interest, and he looked at doyoung with his puppy doe eyes, that he knows would make the older to say _yes_ to whatever request he makes.

“will you bring me the next time you sneak out?” yukhei asked.

“maybe not next time, but some other time when jaehyun decides to bring his cousin with him.”

yukhei didn’t understand who was this _jaehyun and his cousin_ , but he still nodded. for he too, was curious of the life outside of the walls of the palace.


	2. if there are differences, then there will always be similarities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “doyoung, stop questioning about us. we are just at the beginning.”
> 
> “but we are so different jaehyun. we are like two things at the opposite ends of spectrum,” doyoung sighed.
> 
> “then whats wrong with our differences, doyoung? isn’t that a wonderful thing?” jaehyun said.
> 
> “what do you mean by wonderful? there will be things that you will never understand.”
> 
> “then i do not need to understand, doyoung. the least we can do is find our similarities instead of focusing on our differences. there is still a long way, and with time, we will eventually get to know each other,” jaehyun told him.
> 
> “do you think so?”
> 
> “i do.”

doyoung knows, he does know about the fact that he was getting distracted lately, but his mother didn’t have to tell him. he was clearly aware of the fact that whenever he joins them for lunch, his mind would wandering off elsewhere.

“are you sick, doyoung? you know we could always call for taeyong when needed,” his mother told him as she touched his forehead, and determined his temperature.

“mother, believe me, i am fine,” he replied as he swatted away her hand.

“but, you feel hot.”

“i am fine, mother. its not like you would care if i told you anyway.”

felt like giving up, his mother hung her head low, and instead of pushing the matter further, she simply gave him a bow, stood up, and left his chambers.

as soon as his mother went out of the door, doyoung lied face down on his bed, and groaned into his pillow. he didn’t know why, all he knows he was distracted, but the reason was undetermined.

or maybe he did know, he just didn’t want to admit that it was _the son of a middle-class farmer_ who made him act like this.

hours later, the prince was called for another spontaneous training at night, making him not being able to go out at night once again. every time this happens, he either sighs or just think that he would never be able to see the outside world again. these spontaneous trainings have been going for two weeks straight now, and the last time he saw jaehyun was two weeks and a day ago.

“doyoung, you really should focus. yukhei has been defeating you in every training lately. what has gotten into you?” johnny called out to the prince.

“i’m sorry johnny!” doyoung shouted to their coach who was observing the duel.

“doyoung, i know that we are friends and all, and that i would have tolerated that, but this is training. i would add more to my statement later, now begin!”

not really because of johnny’s words, but doyoung was now putting his head into this duel. he was very aware of his performance lately, so maybe that’s the reason why he wanted to start again, and focus. so he wouldn’t have to disappoint the people around him.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

“here is the water you asked for, doyoung,” johnny said as he placed the glass of water in front of the prince. “so what has gotten into you lately? this isn’t very like you, doyoung.”

doyoung sighed as he massaged his temples. of course that was what people thought, that he wasn’t like himself. that thought could either be right or wrong, but maybe, he was always like this. maybe he was someone who just couldn’t focus because of something that wasn’t going to last long.

“i know, its just—”

“you haven’t snuck out in a while?” johnny smirked at the other.

“wait, how did you know that?” doyoung questioned.

“i actually saw you that day, when you came back. your mother asked for me, asking if you were doing well and such. then when i came out from her study, i heard something moved, and that was when i saw you.”

doyoung sighed for the second time. he thought that he was being sneky, and that no one would catch him. he guess he was wrong, but what johnny said just proved that he wasn’t as silent as he thought he was.

“hey johnny,” doyoung called.

“yes?”

“can you promise me something?”

“of course! what is it?”

“can you not tell the king and queen about this? i am already scared that yukhei knows,” he said.

“if you are already scared, then why are you still continuing this?” johnny asked him.

“because i need a break from all of this. it is not everyday that i can put down my front, and be who i am,” doyoung replied.

_and also, to spend time with someone that i know will never be mine_ , he wanted to add, but didn’t.

johnny looked at his watch, then told doyoung about the time.

“and? what about it?”

“do you want to grab dinner with me and taeyong?” johnny asked.

“and where are we going?”

“oh, you’ll see. maybe, this is just what you need after a long day of being prince.”

༒︎❦︎༒︎

the weather was hot today, and this was just one of the things jaehyun hates the most these days. today, he was requested by his father to help out in the farm, and he wanted to say no, he really does. he wanted to tell his father about how he could just ask for more workers, or hire the son of their neighbor, lee donghyuck.

“if you want to be fit, then you need to move, jung jaehyun,” his father said as the older man and mark tried to pry off jaehyun from his bed.

“but i am already as fit as i can be!” jaehyun said as he held onto the sheets of his bed.

“but jaehyun, you need to work as well! you are about to take over the farm soon. what kind of an owner would you be when you barely know anything that happens in it,” mark said.

jaehyun groaned, and finally agreed to their pleading. he just wanted to rest, to forget about what or _who_ he had encounter two weeks ago. it was like every night, he would actually have false hopes of the prince coming to visit him at night, but it has been two weeks since the prince even came to the hill that they agreed to meet up with every night.

_maybe he was just like the rest of him, always thinking about their reputation and not of the people around of them_ , jaehyun thought as he stood up and prepared for the long day ahead of him.

“mark lee, stop stepping on my foot!”

“jung jaehyun, stop throwing soil at me!”

“why are your crops in my bucket? take them away!”

“who said this was your bucket?”

“the bucket! it even has my name on it.”

“but it says mark lee!”

“it says jung jaehyun, you idiot!”

this was normal, it was normal for the two of them to constantly bicker while harvesting their crops. the people around them, mainly his father’s workers, were not even surprised at this. whenever these two boys would help out in the farm, it would either result to this or it would result to a dirt fight.

noticing the events of what was happening, jaehyun’s father sighed and shouted at them.

“no talking, and start working!”

“yes, mr. jung!” they said in unison, and hurriedly went back to work, resulting the chuckles from the people around them.

it was lunch time, and jaehyun and mark were given time to stroll around the village. his father said that the help they did earlier was enough, and that they should go to the village to enjoy themselves. and that was exactly what they were doing.

the bustling of people walking, and the sound of people talking can be heard even from a distance. there wasn’t any festival this week or the week after, their village is just this noisy. at least it was the good kind of noise, the one that was as inviting as the invitation to the ball at the palace.

“hey jaehyun, look at this,” mark called out to the older as he approached a group of people who were surrounding something they saw.

“what is it?” jaehyun asked as he tried to get a good look of what they were trying to see.

“i think its a notice.”

“a notice for what? is someone getting arrested today?”

“not that,” mark said, “it looks like a new bar is opening tonight.”

“so? its not like we have time to go to the bar,” jaehyun said as he started to walk away from the crowd.

“hey jaehyun, wait up!”

mark called out to the other and catched up to where jaehyun was going, which was obviously the plaza square.

a bar didn’t seem too bad in jaehyun’s opinion. he was curious of what would lie behind the walls of the building, but he doesn’t have the leisure to go there today. he needs to go to the hill today in case the prince comes. it would be sad news to the prince if he couldn’t make it tonight because he decided to choose the club over him.

“what time did it say will it open?” jaehyun asked mark.

“i thought you didn’t have the time?” mark asked back.

“just tell me.”

“it said that it would start opening by 7. are you planning to go?”

if the bar opens at seven then that means he could actually go to the bar after all, since he and doyoung usually meet up in by 9 in the evening. that sounds like a good plan.

“mark,” jaehyun said as he faced the younger.

“yes jaehyun?”

“lets go to the bar today.”

“but i thought you said that you didn’t have the time,” mark said.

“don’t make me regret this.”

“sure, as if you don’t regret everything you do.”

jaehyun jokingly punched mark in his shoulder, then shouted at him that they should _race_ towards the plaza square.

and honestly, who was mark to say _no_ to such game?

༒︎❦︎༒︎

night has fallen in south korea as soon as jaehyun and mark finished their second set of whatever they bought from the food stalls in the plaza square. they were sitting on one of the benches, gazing into the night sky.

“what time is it?” jaehyun asked the younger.

“are you really sure you want to do this? we can just go home and rest instead,” mark replied.

_anything to distract myself from the prince_ , he thought.

when they finished cleaning up the mess they made, they started walking towards the building where the bar was located.

blaring lights were dancing around the room as the sea of people below them were dancing, some bodies were dancing so close that doyoung thinks they weren’t _just dancing_ in that sea, and that there was something more in their actions.

“i thought we were having dinner,” doyoung told johnny.

“we are!” johnny shouted over the loud music playing over the speakers.

“but this is bar. you are aware of that, right?”

“oh here goes the prince again, always worrying over the littlest things,” taeyong said as he wrapped his arms around doyoung’s shoulder.

“and hello to you too, taeyong.”

“loosen up a bit, your highness. its not everyday that you can get to experience this luxury,” taeyong told him, “oh hey johnny!”

taeyong approached the other making him blush, even kissing him on the cheek, which made johnny blush even harder. doyoung wanted to groan, but didn’t because he could clearly use some blackmail material for whenever johnny does things on purpose during their training.

doyoung continued to look around the surroundings, worried if he was really spending his night there. it was not that he isn’t enjoying this, it’s actually because he was afraid of whatever situation he was about to encounter.

and needless to say, meeting up with jaehyun was much better than having to look at this dancing sea of people.

“oh doyoung, don’t worry. i got us a room just for ourselves at the back,” taeyong said as he saw the look on the prince’s face.

“there is still a back part of this place?” doyoung questioned.

“where do you think people do _things_?” johnny smirked at doyoung’s reaction.

doyoung pretended to barf, then went on his way to find the hall that would lead to the back part of the bar.

“doyoung, its this way,” taeyong called out.

the prince did a turn and followed towards the direction in which the pair was walking.

as they walked towards the room, doyoung swore that this is probably the most diverse place he has ever went in. not in culture, but how different each pair or group acted with each other. the first pair they passed by were kissing each other so openly that doyoung wanted to gag at them. the next pair they passed by, they were already so deep in their moment that doyoung wanted to interrupt. there was so much on the list, that doyoung is now considering that the bars would be part of the places he hates in this world.

“if you keep looking, then they will think that you would like to join you!” johnny shouted as he and taeyong went inside the room.

doyoung gulped and fast walked towards where they were, but besides the people he just saw, he swore that he saw a familiar mop of hair in the crowd.

“this is the best thing we decided to do in our whole life!” mark shouted at jaehyun over the music.

“this isn’t really my style, but it is quite interesting,” jaehyun said as he bobs his head to the music.

“how about we explore the place? make use of the time we have wisely,” mark said then started walking towards where his feet leads him.

jaehyun just shrugged at the younger, then follows him into the crowd. he took note of everything that he saw. the design on the walls, the neon lights, the speakers set at its highest level for the music to play, and _the mop of hair that he saw every night_.

_doyoung?_ _what was he doing here?_ jaehyun questioned.

he tried to look around for mark, but when he looked at his side, the younger wasn’t there. maybe the younger got too caught up in the moment, and was enjoying his time there. jaehyun wouldn’t blame the younger about how he was left alone. if this was something that could make the younger happy, then let it be.

but that hair.

instead of looking for mark, he decided to look for doyoung instead. everyday since they last met, jaehyun has been holding onto the false hope that doyoung would meet him every night. the possibility of this being another false hope was bigger than the possibility of this being the real doyoung. but jaehyun was certain that he saw doyoung just now.

following the direction the prince went to, jaehyun walked into the halls that lead to the back part of the bar.

he looked left and right, trying to see if doyoung was one of them, but he wasn’t. he rushed towards the farther part of the hall, but the prince also wasn’t there. there were rooms on his left and right side, but that’s just rude if he suddenly barges in and ask where the prince is. and that idea was also the worst idea he could come up with. like, who would expect the prince to be in a bar in the night?

giving up, jaehyun sighed. he turned around, but instead of walking straight, he bumped into a person.

jaehyun sighed again, then bowed at whoever he just managed to bump himself with.

“i thought i was dreaming, but it really is you,” the voice said.

that voice, the one that jaehyun anticipates to hear every night. was his mind playing tricks on him? it couldn’t be right? the prince can’t be found in one of the bars in the village.

“do you not wish to see me?” the voice asked.

jaehyun breathes in then turns around. and there he was, kim doyoung — the heir to the throne of south korea, who also happens to be friends with him — the son of a middle-class farmer.

“i do wish to see you, your highness.”

༒︎❦︎༒︎

as they finally left the bar, the night breeze hit them, and it was one of the best feelings that jaehyun had ever felt. it was different to the atmosphere in the bar, this one was calm, just how he likes it.

“why would you even end up in a bar in the first place? like, thats the least of your concern,” jaehyun said to the person beside him.

“my friend told me that we were getting dinner,” doyoung started.

“and then, you just found yourself in a bar,” jaehyun finished to which doyoung nodded.

“i thought you didn’t like attention.”

“when did i ever say that?” doyoung questioned.

"when we first met, obviously,” jaehyun answered.

“i don’t recall such memory.”

“as long as i can remember, you don’t have to.”

they were walking to whatever their feet leads them to, and they were finding themselves walking to the direction of the hill where they would spend their nights together.

they continued to walk on the pavement, feeling the breeze the night gave. they climbed up the hill, with jaehyun leading the path, and then finally, they sat on the ground, looking at the night sky above them.

“the sky, is it always this beautiful?” doyoung asked as he tries to count the number of stars in the sky.

it was beautiful. even though this wasn’t already his first time seeing the night sky, it still feels like it. he will never get tired of looking at the night sky. it was like, every night, the sky has something new to give to those who wishes to see it.

“do you not see the sky from the palace, your highness?” jaehyun asked.

“i told you not to call me that.”

“sorry, i was taught to be well-mannered by my father, and i still cannot forget the fact that you are a prince and is born of royal blood,” the other explained.

“but, is it really this beautiful?” doyoung asked again.

“the sky? yes, it is,” jaehyun answered.

the stars were twinkling and were as bright as they can ever be. it was wonderful, the fact that the stars could shine as bright as this, not caring if other stars would look down on them. they were just, being themself, and that was what made doyoung attracted to them. the fact that they could shine without a care in the world, that was what doyoung wanted to act.

but he can’t.

a prince should always live a life that was expecting of him, not of how he wants to live. there were expectations for a reason, and his father had always told him that he should use these to improve himself, and to also use this to remind himself of how he should be.

doyoung sighed loudly, taking the attention of jaehyun as well.

“is there something wrong, your highness?” jaehyun asked as he placed his hand on the prince’s forehead to check if his temperature was okay.

“yes jaehyun, i am fine. its just, i thought of something,” doyoung told him.

jaehyun understood, and instead of saying anything, he went by doyoung’s side, and wrapped his arms around him, startling the prince is in the process.

“jaehyun, what are you doing?”

“hugging you,” he answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“i can see that, but why?” doyoung asked as he placed his hnads on top of jaehyun’s.

“my father once told me that when someone has been stressing over something, you should either give them a hug or pat them on the back,” jaehyun explained.

“then you could just simply pat my back then?”

“oh, i don’t want to do that, your highness.”

“and why not?” doyoung questioned.

> “because everyone deserves a hug, even a prince like you deserves one,” jaehyun said as he continued to hug doyoung.

doyoung didn’t question the actions of the other any longer, knowing that whatever attempt he does at making the other stop, he wouldn’t. but the feeling was nice, being hugged by someone. even if they only knew so little of each other, doyoung felt safe in the comforts of this person who was not of royalty, but of a son of a middle-class farmer.

as the time passed, jaehyun hummed a song, as doyoung just simply stared at the sky, giving all of his life choices a thought. was he doing all the right things? was there something in his actions that was lacking? what part of him could he improve?

a lot of questions were swirling in his mind, and it took a flick on the forehead to make those thoughts stop all at once.

“you didn’t have to do that, jaehyun,” doyoung said as he rubbed the area where the other flicked him at.

“if only you realize doyoung that your thoughts were so loud, you would have also flick yourself in the forehead,” jaehyun responded.

and doyoung couldn’t really argue with that. of course he knows that, he does that whenever he overthinks during his bath. even yukhei warned him about his thoughts, but what does his brother know? nothing, because the latter isn’t doyoung, and will never be doyoung.

“hey jaehyun,” doyoung called out.

“yes, doyoung?”

“do you think what we are doing right now is wrong?” the prince asked, to which jaehyun became silent.

the latter haven’t really gave this a thought. all he thought about was how interesting his life became when doyoung came into the picture.

“no doyoung, i don’t think so. why?” jaehyun asked back.

“its just,” doyoung started, “we are so different. like look at how our daily lives go. i live in a palace, and i assume that you live in a simple home with your family. all of the population of south korea knows of my existence, while they barely know who you are.”

at this point, doyoung was speaking nonsense. jaehyun sighed, and ran his fingers on doyoung’s hair.

“doyoung, we only just started to know each other. we can’t just let all of this slide. there is still a long way to go,” jaehyun told him.

“i know that too, jaehyun. but i can’t help thinking about it. what if in the long run we figure out that this friendship of ours will never work? what if we weren’t meant to know of each other’s existence?”

“doyoung, stop questioning about us. we are just at the beginning.”

“but we are so different jaehyun. we are like two things at the opposite ends of spectrum,” doyoung sighed.

“then whats wrong with our differences, doyoung? isn’t that a wonderful thing?” jaehyun said.

“what do you mean by _wonderful_? there will be things that you will never understand.”

“then i do not need to understand, doyoung. the least we can do is find our similarities instead of focusing on our differences. there is still a long way, and with time, we will eventually get to know each other,” jaehyun told him.

“do you think so?”

“i do.”

and they ended the night in each other’s arms, holding onto the words that jaehyun just told him.

differences will always be differences, but there will always be similarities if being looked at more clearly.

“your breath stinks,” doyoung said out of the blue.

“that was mean, your majesty.”

༒︎❦︎༒︎

yukhei was concerned at the fact that doyoung was still out this late. it has been more than four hours since the older left, and he hasn’t returned since. yukhei sighed, maybe he was just overthinking this, but really, doyoung was coming in late today.

before he was allowed to leave the palace gates, yukhei persuaded the royal guards to let him out for two hours — at least for him to find doyoung and bring him back before their parents find out about his schemes at night.

the sky was beautiful in yukhei’s opinion, but tonight really wasn’t the night for sightseeing. maybe in the nearby future, he would come out here with doyoung and look at every little detail the outside world has.

as the royal was walking, he turned into a corner, and managed to bump into an individual. it would have been a fine encounter, and yukhei would have simply left, but no, it just didn’t have to.

the fellow he just bumped into was drunk, and to be more specific, it was as if the other didn’t even know which direction he was going.

yukhei wanted to leave the person alone, believing that someone would just fetch him, but if he does that, it would just make his conscience guilty.

sighing, yukhei wrapped his arms around the stranger’s shoulder, and lifted him up.

“why the fuck are you so heavy for?” yukhei groaned as he tried to fix their position.

“hello!” the stranger greeted in a drunken voice.

he reeked of alcohol and yukhei wanted to barf, but didn’t. because that would just be embarrassing for both hum and the stranger he just met.

“i’m mark!” the other said then giggled.

“well, hello mark. now where do you live?” yukhei asked.

“in the jung farm!”

“you live in a farm? don’t you have a house to sleep in?”

now this just confused yukhei. how was this stranger living in a farm instead of living in an actual house?

“i do! i have a very big room with white walls, and i even have watermelons by the window! mr. jung is a very kind of person for making me live with my cousin,” the stranger — _mark_ shared.

“okay mark. now, you have to tell me where does this _mr.jung_ live,” yukhei told him.

but when he looked to see the other, he noticed that mark was already asleep in his arms.

yukhei groaned.

the only thing he planned was to look for doyoung and bring him home, not to bring a stranger to his home.

yukhei was certain of one thing, and it was this night was going to be a long one, much longer than when he had to attend those pageants that their father forced them to attend.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

mark groaned as he woke up the next morning. he saw that he was laying on his bed, and was now in his bedroom. the odd thing was, he had no memory of coming home last night.

“are you awake now, you drunk fool?” jaehyun asked as he brought in water and some medicine to ease the hangover mark was experiencing.

“what happened? how did i come home last night?” mark asked.

“apparently, someone brought you home last night.”

mark shrieked.

“don’t be scared. he only dropped you off. but there’s a catch, mark.”

“what is it?”

“it was a royal who brought you home last night,” jaehyun told him.

now, mark wanted the ground to swallow him home, and forget about everything and every action he did last night.

jaehyun laughed and stood up, patting the younger in the process.

“will the royals kill me?” mark asked.

“i don’t think that would happen, mark. the prince was a very kind person. if i were him, i would have just left you in the streets,” jaehyun answered.

mark threw him a pillow, to which jaehyun dodged, and laughed at the younger’s failed attempt.

“let’s go out today, jaehyun!” mark called out.

“no can do mark. i have plans today!”

and mark saw how jaehyun’s face immediately lit up at the idea of him having plans with a person that wasn’t mark nor his father.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

the sun was shining brightly today. a nice weather to spend the day out. doyoung smiled as he looked outside his window. even with the trees that were covering his scenery, he can see the sun shining as bright as always.

he managed to convince his father that he wouldn’t be going to any of schedules today, and that he would just visit the village today.

at first, the king was puzzled at what his son told him, but he thought of how hardworking doyoung has been lately, so he decided to let his son have this time for himself.

doyoung then met up with johnny in the halls to tell him about what he was doing today.

johnny would have disagreed if doyoung told him first, but since the other was not the _first_ person to know, then his opinion wouldn’t matter to doyoung.

( _“stay safe alright?_ _the outside world moves differently than the world behind the palace walls,” johnny told him._

_“i know that, and i don’t need to be told twice, johnny,” doyoung said._ )

it wasn’t everyday that doyoung was this happy, but he can’t help it. he was about to go out in the sun, forgetting about all his duties as a prince, and try to live like someone who is not royal for a day. with a help of someone trustworthy, of course.

_ah, jung jaehyun, how can you make me do all these things?_ _we just met_ , was the thought doyoung had as he went out of the palace gates, and as he stepped foot onto the pavement outside of the place he called _home_.

during the first few minutes of walking around the village, doyoung lost himself more than thrice, which was concerning, but not very. there were kids who looked at him weirdly whenever he got lost, but he just brushed them off.

it wasn’t everyday he got to visit the village, and everytime he did, he couldn’t even wander in the streets.

“excuse me,” doyoung approached someone.

“yes? how can i help you today?” the person said, “i just made some fresh bread, would you like some?”

“are you a baker?” the prince asked.

“i’m not _the_ baker, i am just the son of the baker who runs this bakery,” the person — _taeil_ as stated in his name tag said.

“oh, as much as i would love to, i actually have plans today.”

“what a bummer then. so tell me, where are you going?”

“do you perhaps know where the plaza square is?” doyoung asked.

“the plaza square? no one in this village does not know where the plaza square is,” taeil said, “are you sure you are from here?”

doyoung hurriedly defended himself.

“i am! i just don’t go out as instructed by my father.”

“then why didn’t you say so? here, i will tell you the directions!”

_doyoung was running late today_ , jaehyun thought. he remembered clearly that the prince told him that he would already be waiting once he arrives, but guess what, the prince was already running late for half an hour.

jaehyun sighed and thought if this was all worth it. maybe it was or maybe it wasn’t. he is the prince after all, who knows what kind of business he has back at the palace.

he just sat down in one of the benches, staring into the distance. he reminisced the events of last night. at how nice it felt to have doyoung in his arms, forgetting about the world around them. it was a different feeling that jaehyun was feeling, but he couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

instead of dwelling into the thought longer, jaehyun looked at his wrist where his watch was.

it was almost an hour, yet the prince wasn’t here yet.

_maybe he decided to just back out the last minute but didn’t have the time to tell me_ , was the conclusion he made.

jaehyun stood up, then stood still for a few minutes, still waiting for doyoung’s arrival. but yet, the prince hasn’t arrived.

feeling like he just wasted his time, jaehyun started to walk towards the direction where he came from.

then a voice called out to him.

“wait jaehyun! don’t leave yet!”

jaehyun turned around, and there he was, greeted by the person he looks forward seeing everyday in his life.

“why are you late? you promised me,” jaehyun whined at the other.

“i’m sorry. i got lost coming here,” doyoung apologized.

“i thought you knew the streets in your kingdom?”

“apparently not,” the prince chuckled.

they stood there for a good minute, when doyoung felt someone grab his hand, and pulled him to move.

“now, what are you waiting for, your highness? let’s go! we don’t want to miss the attractions that only happens in the day.”

and they started to run to whatever direction jaehyun was leading them to.

it was like a dream, holding hands and running underneath the sun that was shining above them.

and this was only the beginning of something great for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/jaejaesus)   
>  [curious cat](https://curiouscat.qa/119th)


	3. if i can't have you, then nobody can

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “we can’t be together,” doyoung said as he removed his hand from jaehyun’s, then stood up.
> 
> jaehyun stood up as well, and hurriedly grabbed the prince’s wrist to stop him from walking away any further.
> 
> “but i know you feel the same,” jaehyun said.
> 
> “it doesn’t matter if i feel the same or not. we just can’t be together,” doyoung said as he tried to remove himself from jaehyun’s grasp.

the sun was shining as bright as it can be. wherever they go, sounds of children playing were evident, and it was like music to doyoung’s ears. as they were heading towards their direction, doyoung couldn’t help but compare the atmosphere this world has than the one inside the palace walls.

“doyoung! can you stop thinking for a moment? we have a ride to catch!” jaehyun called out.

doyoung then looked for jaehyun, and when he saw the other standing in the middle of the crowd, he immediately ran towards the other.

they haven’t even arrived to the place that jaehyun promised doyoung to take him, but the excitement in his veins were already present.

“looks like you are already enjoying your time without me, your majesty,” jaehyun said when doyoung finally reached his side.

“and looks like you are jealous about it, mr. jung,” doyoung replied, and he almost laughed at how the blush was forming in the other’s cheeks.

“whatever,” the other mumbled.

for the second time that day, jaehyun held doyoung’s hands as the prince held his as well, as they run through the crowds towards the direction of the sea, where one of the greatest amusement parks in their village was located.

fairy lights was the first thing doyoung noticed as they arrived. it wasn’t on since it was still daytime, but when being looked at closely, it would be clear that the minor detail was there.

jaehyun wanted to roll his eyes as he saw the sudden fascination in doyoung’s eyes when he saw the fairy lights in the arc that lead to the inside of the park, but he didn’t. he knew about the life of the prince as he goes on with his daily life, and he didn’t want to spoil the fun just yet.

he stood by his side as the prince still continued to look at the fairy lights.

“can i steal this?” jaehyun heard doyoung asked, and as a response, he slapped his arm.

“hey! that was so uncalled for,” doyoung told him.

“you shouldn’t be stealing things that aren’t yours, your highness,” jaehyun replied.

“but this is my kingdom.”

“whether it is your kingdom or not, it is still not yours to steal.”

“but, it is still my kingdom,” doyoung insisted.

jaehyun sighed as he rubbed his temples. explaining to doyoung that stealing wasn’t a good thing was like teaching a five year old the difference between hot and cold.

“your highness, if you keep saying that, then people will definitely know that you are not an ordinary person,” jaehyun said.

“but i am not an ordinary person,” doyoung replied.

“i thought you wanted to experience what life is like being away from the attention?” there was a questioning tone in jaehyun’s voice.

“i do.”

“now, lets forget about the palace and focus whats in front of us, okay?”

doyoung nodded to what jaehyun just said as the other patted his head.

soon afterwards, they were now swimming in the crowd of people, jaehyun determined to make it in front of the line at the ride they were about to ride. when they finally stopped and as jaehyun was clapping his hands like a child, doyoung took note of the ride jaehyun just lead him to.

“you want me? to ride that?” doyoung asked hesistantly.

“why not? its like the best ride there is!” jaehyun exclaimed.

“but isnt it too early for us to ride that thing?”

“when was it too early to ride a _rollercoaster_?” the other asked.

doyoung just shook his head as he tried to slowly back away from the line they were stnding on. jaehyun just laughed at him as he grabbed the prince’s wrist and pulled him back to where he was standing, making the other groan in misery.

“it will be fine, doyoung. everyone loves rollercoasters,” he said.

“everyone, but _me_ ,” doyoung argued.

“doyoung, it will be fine,” jaehyun said.

“and if it won’t?”

“then you can leave me here,” jaehyun told him.

“leave you?” doyoung asked, “who said i was going to do that? haven’t you seen the beach?” the prince said as he pointed towards the body of water.

“and what about it?”

“when the sun sets, i will drag you there, and make sure you will be soaking once you get out,” the prince smirked.

“that isn’t really a problem. everyone loves the sea,” jaehyun answered.

“you won’t be saying that once you get wet.”

they stood there side by side as they waited for their turn to ride the rollercoaster. at first, the proximity of one person to another was bothering doyoung. it was like, no one understood the meaning of personal space. but when jaehyun explained to him that this was happening on a daily, doyoung just nodded his head, and tried to understand what jaehyun meant.

_“welcome to the journey to the center of the earth! passengers, please make your way into the doors in front of you,”_ the person behind the speaker spoke.

doyoung swore as soon as he entered those doors, he just did the biggest gulp all of humanity has never heard of.

the adrenaline in his veins were skyrocketing. at first, doyoung thought he was fine and that the ride was harmless. but what he doesn’t know was that every rollercoaster ever made was always like this. he expected not much at first, despite seeing the ride and hearing the screams outside. what can he say, this was his first time riding one.

the ride started slow and steady as the cart was being lead to the top of the track. as they were going up, doyoung was slowly hearing his heart beating faster and faster, as if it was about to go out of his ribcage.

the next thing he knew was they were on top of the track, steady and not moving anywhere, then there it was, the sudden drop from the top as if the tracks below them couldn’t hold onto them much longer, and screams emitting from practically everyone on the ride.

jaehyun was having the time of his life on the ride. despite having to ride this for already the nth time, the adrenaline in his veins will always feel as if it was his first. rollercoasters were one of the best things mankind has created, he has to admit.

hands up in the air, the latter felt the breeze with every twist and turn the tracks gave. screams were emitted out of enjoyment, and it felt like he was free.

free from all the jobs given to him. free from every little thing people say about him. he was just _free_.

when the ride came to a loop, he felt like he was flying, feet not touching the surface below him. it was one of the best feelings jaehyun had ever felt.

but his friend didn’t have the same thought.

“you have decided to bring me to my death during a good day?!” doyoung exclaimed as soon as they stepped out of the cart they just rode.

“but you have to admit, it was kind of fulfilling,” jaehyun told him.

“fulfilling?” the prince gasped as he placed his hand on his chest, “i thought i was going to die!”

“but you didn’t? all is good, doyoung.”

doyoung huffed and started to walk away from the other. jaehyun just laughed at how the prince was laughing and soon, was catching up to him.

they were walking wherever their heart takes them. the sounds of people talking and the sounds of excitement from every ride they passed was like music that doyoung had never heard of. it was like he completely entered a whole new world, but in fact, it was just in the same country as him.

too deep in his thoughts, doyoungwas just walking mindlessly, until jaehyun called him.

“doyoung!”

doyoung whipped his head towards the direction of the sound, and there he found jaehyun, standing in front of a food stall.

“what is this?” he asked as he stood by the other’s side.

“i thought of buying us cotton candy. let you taste the glory of its sweetness,” jaehyun answered.

doyoung shook his head, indicating _no_.

jaehyun clung onto the prince, then pouted. when the other wasn’t reacting to whatever he was doing, he started to whine, until the prince finally gave in.

“fine, but if i ever get poisoned, its your fault,” doyoung threatened.

“who would ever get poisoned by cotton candy?”

༒︎❦︎༒︎

yukhei was just walking down the halls, remembering what happened with his encounter with the drunken stranger he met when he was looking for his brother.

at first, he was about to go and get prepared for their training, but when he met johnny in the palace grounds, the older explained to him about them not meeting today due to doyoung’s absence.

he was walking, alone, observing the gold-painted walls, and every family portrait their family had. he thought of doyoung and how different he started to act when he came back from his first trip from the outside world.

then, he thought of mark, of how the drunken stranger almost fell multiple times, showing off that he can go home on his own, and that he doesn’t need help from another local.

yukhei laughed at the memory, and cooed at how cute the stranger was.

_is it a good thing that he seems to be my age?_

his train of thoughts came to a full stop when he heard someone coughed their throat from behind him.

yukhei gulped, knowing who it was.

he turned around and was met by the unreadable expression on the king’s face.

“have you seen your brother? i need to talk to him.”

༒︎❦︎༒︎

doyoung must admit, cotton candy was something he would eat on repeat for days, but that obviously wouldn’t happen since the palace wouldn’t provide such food if not approved by the king.

“you like it, say that you like it,” jaehyun chanted as he happily danced around the prince.

he wanted jaehyun to stop, to save himself from self-embarrassment, but it seems the other didn’t give a care in the world, and doyoung was enjoying it, so he just decided the latter to continue.

“fine, i like it. happy?” the prince said as he waved the empty stick in front of the other’s face.

jaehyun just laughed, and stuck his tongue out at doyoung.

the prince wanted to snarl at him, but failed as the other was starting to run towards the sea.

doyoung was debating in his mind if he should follow, or if he should just wait and see if the other would come back to get him. minutes passed, but no one came back for him yet, making the prince confused.

“aren’t you coming?” he heard jaehyun shout from wherever he was.

“where are you?” doyoung shouted back.

“just run straight, and you will find me.”

and so, doyoung ran, straight and on his way to find jaehyun.

what doyoung didn’t expect when he reached the beach was to be soaked by seawater in his legs.

he squinted his eyes to find the source, then was again taken aback when he was being soaked again.

“okay jaehyun, i know its you. come out,” doyoung called out, and emerging from the waters was none other than jung jaehyun.

“you could have just played along,” the latter said as he pouted at the prince.

jaehyun sat on the sand, arms and legs crossed, as he pouted towards the direction of the sea. doyoung wanted to squish his cheeks and call him cute names, but he wasn’t the person to do that just yet.

instead, doyoung just sat silently next to jaehyun, afraid that the other might lash out at him if he did anything wrong.

“jaehyun—”

the prince was cut off mid-sentence when he felt sand hit his face. he heard laughter soon afterward, and doyoung was ready for his revenge.

grabbing sand from his right as much as he can, doyoung _guessed_ the direction where jaehyun was, ad aimed it at his face as well. it did the trick, because the laughter stopped.

after that, another ball of sand hit his face, then another ball of sand hit jaehyun’s face. it was easy to say that the two were throwing sand at each other, as they chased and ran around the beach, with the moon shining above them.

both of them laid on their backs, looking at the stars above them. they decided to stop in order to catch their breaths, and the only thought doyoung had at the moment was the fact that this night was the best night of his life. he even thought of stepping down from his position as prince to be able to live a life with someone he found his happiness in.

“what are you thinking?” jaehyun asked as he went to reach the prince’s hand.

“not much, just thought of how much fun i had today,” at this point, doyoung felt jaehyun intertwine their fingers as they continued to gaze at the night sky.

“its wonderful, isn’t it? the sky,” jaehyun said.

“not as wonderful as you,” doyoung replied as he looked at the other for his reaction.

doyoung saw at how the blush crept onto jaehyun’s face, and he found himself smiling at what he accomplished.

they simply stayed in that position, no one finding any will to move or to even go back to where they live. they were just staying, because knowing that once they share their _goodbyes_ , the next time they would meet will not be determined.

the stars were dancing, and so was jaehyun’s thoughts. he was happy and he felt butterflies in his stomach.

_is this how it feels to fall in love?_ he thought to himself.

“why are you smiling?” he heard the prince ask.

“none of your business,” jaehyun replied.

“well, stop it. it looks creepy on you,” doyoung told him.

“doyoung, have you ever fallen in love?” he decided to ask, doyoung choking on saliva in response.

_falling in love?_ doyoung thought.

sure he had experience the feeling of admiration and infatuation for someone, but never had he experience falling in love.

“jaehyun, why do you ask?”

“because everytime i look at you, i feel all these things, and i don’t know what to call them, but if there is one thing i know, then it must be the feeling that i find my happiness in you,” jaehyun said as he looked into doyoung’s eyes.

“jaehyun, i—”

“doyoung—”

“we can’t be together,” doyoung said as he removed his hand from jaehyun’s, then stood up.

jaehyun stood up as well, and hurriedly grabbed the prince’s wrist to stop him from walking away any further.

“but i know you feel the same,” jaehyun said.

“it doesn’t matter if i feel the same or not. we just can’t be together,” doyoung said as he tried to remove himself from jaehyun’s grasp.

jaehyun spun doyoung around, and they were meeting each eye to eye, space invisible between them. they could hear each other’s breathing, they could hear each other’s heartbeat. they could hear each other.

time was moving agonizingly slow, and jaehyun can’t help but to look at the other’s lips. it looked so kissable, as if it was waiting for him to kiss it.

doyoung could feel jaehyun staring at his lips, and gulped. he knew where this was going, but it was so wrong, very wrong. he shouldn’t feel like this for someone who he just met recently, and the fact that the other wasn’t even a royal.

“may i?” he heard jaehyun ask.

the prince was selfish, he was selfish to the bones. if he likes something, then he would always find a way to achieve that something. he was selfish and he wanted this as much as jaehyun did.

“your wish is my command,” doyoung replied.

jaehyun leaned in as he placed a hand behind doyoung’s neck. the prince gasped at the contact, but then caved in, feeling safe in the other’s hold. soon, the gap between them was never to be seen again as they kissed.

it was as if there were fireworks all around them as they kissed. this was doyoung’s first kiss, and he was so happy that he was able to do this with someone he found his happiness in.

jaehyun pulled out to catch some air and he stared at doyoung.

he was also selfish, for he wanted the prince for himself and for himself alone.

already missing the feeling of the other’s lips on his, doyoung cupped jaehyun’s face as he brought it close to his, then eventually, closed the gap between them.

jaehyun wrapped his arms around doyoung as he deepened the kiss, wanting to feel every part of the other.

and that was how they said their goodbye.

in each other’s arms, and promising to each other that no matter what happens, they will always find each other.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

when doyoung arrived at the palace that night, it was silent. it was as if everyone decided to go on a vacation without him. he gulped as he quietly made his way towards his bedroom.

maybe he wasn’t as quiet as thought, because he heard someone cleared their throat from above.

hesitantly, doyoung looked up and was greeted by his father, who seems to be awaiting his presence the whole night.

“kim doyoung, you are requested to be in my study in ten minutes.”

and with that, the king left to his study, and doyoung let out the air that he didn’t know he was holding in.

he felt his heartbeat accelerate with each step he took.

whenever his father calls either him or yukhei to his study, it was never good news to begin with.


	4. you are someone i want to spend the rest of my life with

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “will you stay with me?” jaehyun asked.
> 
> “jaehyun, you are the only thing that keeps me going. of course i will stay with you, and you will stay with me.”

mark sighed as he dragged himself home. he went back to the bar that night, thinking that the person who brought him home would be present once he visits, but he was wrong.

he was glad at the fact that he avoided drinking so he wouldn’t have to embarrass himself in front of the other people in the village.

as mark stopped in front of the doors of the jung household, he let out a deep sigh.

the thought that a royal was still present on his mind, and how much he wanted to go down on his knees to apologize to the said royal about being such a handful. he even planned on telling them that he would never go out and drink again, so he and the royal could avoid similar problems like this in the near future.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

as doyoung entered the room, he noticed that it still looked the same as ever. a family portrait hung on the center of the wall, numerous rows of books displayed on every wall, chairs still in the same position where the prince remembered it was. everything was the same.

despite this room being similar to every room the palace had, there was something different, unique that made this room stand out from every room the palace provided.

this was the room that doyoung grew up hating.

his father’s study hall was never an ideal place, and it made the prince sick to the gut. there were times where in he was brought to this four-walled room, and those memories weren’t really the best.

when he had enter the room, the first thing he did was he gasped. his head was spinning, thinking of all the possibilities of what kind of conversation was shared between the king and yukhei.

he felt his thoughts clear up when he saw yukhei give him a knowing smile, meaning that _he didn’t tell their father about his little secret_.

at first, he felt relieved, that was until his father ushered him to sit down.

doyoung gulped as he took a seat on one of the chairs in front of his father’s desk, and to his side was yukhei, who looks like is guilty of something.

“so doyoung,” the king started as he took a sit, “remember when we had the conversation about the trades with the kingdom of china.”

“yes, father,” he answered hesitantly.

whenever his father mentions about the _kingdom of china_ , doyoung’s mind would sometimes be all over the place. it is not that he hated the other kingdom, it was his father’s decision was the reason why he hated to hear the name come out of his mouth.

because whenever he does that, all he talks about is—

“doyoung, the king agreed to our deal,” his father started.

“and?” he asked.

“you are getting married to the prince of china in two weeks.”

as those words fell out of his father’s mouth, doyoung felt like he was drowning, being forced into a life he never wanted.

“yukhei!” doyoung called, “yukhei!”

the other prince’s expression was one of guilt as soon as the conversation in the king’s study hall ended, and doyoung was assuming he had known this ever since the beginning.

“yukhei!” he shouted as he grabbed the younger’s wrist as he spun him around.

yukhei was scared of what he was about to do, doyoung can tell just by looking at his face alone. this was not the first time his brother used it on him.

“you knew about this, didn’t you? doyoung started.

yukhei hurriedly shook his head.

“doyoung, you have to believe me. he only told me this earlier when you weren’t here,” he answered.

the older of the two breathed in then breathed out.

_so he did know about this marriage._

“you knew about it, yet you didn’t do anything?” he was frustrated, and so much more at this revelation.

“doyoung, i tried. i really tried, but he wouldn’t listen, saying that it will be the best thing that will happen to south korea,” yukhei told him.

“but—” doyoung wanted to raise his voice, let out his frustrations, and curse the existence of his father.

instead, he sighed and rubbed his temples as he let go of the other’s hand.

doyoung apologized to yukhei for how reacted, and at how it was inappropriate for him to do so.

the younger prince, on the other hand, accepted his apology and said that it was reasonable for him to react that way. because if it was him in doyoung’s shoes, he may have already left the palace the minute he stepped out of his father’s study hall.

they bid goodnight as they went inside their separate chambers.

as soon as doyoung entered his, he screamed, letting out all of his frustrations and how he wishes he was never a prince whose father only thinks about the country and never his own family.

and because of that, he was grateful for the thick walls each room in the palace had.

if not for that, he would have been heard miles and miles away.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

_how much time passed? was it seconds? hours? days? weeks? months? or was it even a year?_ jaehyun thought.

he knows he was exaggerating about how much time passed since he last saw the prince.

it was two weeks ago since he last saw doyoung, whose smile never seemed to have been forgotten by his memory. everyday, he kept replaying the events that had unfold on that one day that they decided to meet and be themselves, not giving any care if the world was annoyed by the fact that they were together, and that the prince was not acting as he was supposed to.

jaehyun sighed as he turned himself on his bed.

he remembers clear as day the words doyoung said to him before the prince left him by the seashore.

_“we can’t be together.”_

he laughed at himself with pity. he probably looked stupid to those who do not know him. if he had to admit, he does look stupid. he knows, jaehyun knows, he really does, that a prince can’t be like someone like himself. they were different, _very different_.

doyoung was like a star, seems so close yet so far way, because no matter how hard you try to reach and grab it, you can never succeed.

and jaehyun? he was just jaehyun. a commoner living in one of the villages found in south korea.

he was just one of a million, and there were far more better people for doyoung to be with.

doyoung, on the other hand, was what everyone wanted. anyone would trade their limbs just for them to experience the life he had.

it was stupid, jaehyun’s feelings.

it was all stupid, and jaehyun can’t believe that he had manage to do such thing. how stupid it was to think that doyoung was different from the rest. how stupid it was to think that doyoung would pick him to be with him.

and what was more stupid was that he once thought that he could even be together with the prince.

jaehyun stood up from his position and threw one of his pillows towards the wall out of frustration.

what did he even expect when he fell for the prince? a future with him?

how pitiful.

stupid.

how did he even mix up reality with fantasy?

reality was that he was going to marry a fellow commoner and they would have kids and they would be looking at view on their balcony. and fantasy, it was that he was going to get married to a prince who would love a commoner like him.

“jaehyun!” a voice called to him.

“jaehyun!”

“jaehyun!”

“what?!” he shouted back at mark who was standing outside of his door.

“we have to harvest the crops today! or do you not want to join us today _again_?” mark asked.

jaehyun sighed.

“wait for me!” he responded.

_anything to forget the gummy smile he found himself falling in love with._

༒︎❦︎༒︎

at the palace, the situation was not that different. everyday felt like a punishment to doyoung, who has not been able to go out of the palace for two whole weeks.

he still remembered the look on jaehyun’s face. it was hurt, betrayed, and everything related to it. doyoung wanted to go back, to tell him that they felt the same, that they can do this, and that they can overcome whatever obstacle their relationship would bring.

as wonderful as that sounds, it was a lie. a lie that doyoung made so he can cope up with whatever job his father gave him.

doyoung was a coward, no doubt. he was a coward who couldn’t stand up against his father, a coward who couldn’t say no, a coward who couldn’t rebel against his parents. and to top all that, he was a coward when it comes to love.

ever since he met jaehyun during the first night he snuck out. he was stunned by how beautiful he was. how perfect his face looked, how his eyes looked like it held the whole universe in it, then there was smile.

the smile that looked as beautiful as a pearl, and it lights up even if the world around them was dark.

doyoung knew ever since that night that he was fucked.

his feelings just grew every single day, and how much he wished that he could have seen the other every day of his life.

but then the events at the seashore happened.

the confession.

the kiss.

the rejection doyoung gave to the one he loved.

it was a stupid move, very stupid indeed. he would have gave them a chance, a chance to be together, but he just had to act without thinking, and now he was hurt.

they both were.

“hey doyoung, may i ask why you are always spaced out when we go on walks?” the person beside him asked.

_shit i forgot he was here_.

“its nothing,” doyoung told sicheng, who didn’t seem to buy his lie.

“nothing? it doesn’t look like nothing though. it seems to be important since you have been doing this every single day.”

doyoung wanted to tell sicheng to fuck off and that his business was obviously not his business, but he didn’t. he was tired, very tired. every night he would find himself staying up late, replaying the events of that one _eventful_ day, and thought of an alternative future for them if he just accepted and told jaehyun that he felt the same.

he sighed for the nth time that day, but it wouldn’t hurt if he opened up to someone, right?

“sicheng, have you ever fallen in love?” doyoung asked as he stopped in his tracks.

sicheng stopped in his tracks as well as he processed the question that fell out of the other’s mouth.

“falling in love? why do you ask?” he asked back.

“its just,” doyoung started.

“you fell in love with someone you can never have? doyoung, we all feel that,” sicheng turned to face the other.

“there is always a time in one’s life that we fall in love with people we couldn’t have, but we still did. look at me, for example,” he said.

“you? you have fallen in love too?” doyoung asked as he looked at the other, taken aback.

sicheng chuckled at the reaction, but just smiled at him. everyone reacted the same when he told them his story.

“a commoner, someone who worked as a librarian at our town’s library. i met him when i decided to visit the market, and he fell, but i managed to catch him. he was beautiful, and he was definitely someone who i have never met,” the chinese prince said.

doyoung felt sad for him, having to leave someone so precious to him.

“we confessed, and we tried. but i guess it was never worth it,” he heard sicheng’s voice become smaller.

“oh, why?” doyoung asked.

“he ended up marrying another person through a marriage he never planned. it was fine, at least that is what i tell myself.”

“but you could have been together with him!” doyoung exclaimed.

“doyoung, just because you are the prince does not mean you can do whatever you want,” sicheng raised his voice, “we are forced to live a life full of luxury and only meet people who are of our parents’ standards! if you just think about it, you never had done something for yourself. you only are doing things just because it makes your parents happy.

“hell, even this _marriage_ was simply arranged because our parents wanted this,” sicheng said as he ran his fingers in his hair out of frustration.

he excused himself towards the palace as doyoung sat on one of the benches the palace grounds has. he sighed as he looked at the sky as he thought about what sicheng told him.

obviously, the chinese prince wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t right either.

if doyoung was forced to do something that only his parents wanted, then he would make it into something that he wanted.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

another week passed, and what was running through his mind was still mind was still the same.

_jaehyun_

_jaehyun_

_jaehyun_

how long can doyoung handle this, he doesn’t know, but it was obvious he couldn’t hold on much longer. it was obvious that he was slacking in everything he was doing, everyone can tell, even his parents who only see him once a day.

during this hour, doyoung was at training with yukhei, who seemed to be way too happy. he might have to ask the younger after this.

“doyoung, how many times must i tell you to put your head in the game?” johnny asked him from where he was watching.

“johnny, please. the boy looks like he has enough problems to deal with,” taeyong said as he placed his hands on the coach’s shoulder and started calm him down.

then doyoung was hit again, for the third time that hour.

instead of feeling pain, he felt numb. he simply laughed as he laid on the floor, but it wasn’t a happy kind of laughter. it was the sad kind.

oh how much pain does it take for him to cry.

“what’s wrong with you? this has already been going on for almost a month,” johnny asked as he gave doyoung his glass of water.

taeyong, who was together with johnny the whole time, sat beside doyoung as he hugged the prince.

as soon as taeyong hugged him, doyoung almost immediately hugged the older, and covered his face as he cried in his embrace.

he was sobbing, emitting choked breaths every once in a while.

the other two with him simply looked at him with soft eyes, as taeyong rubbed circles on his back, saying words that he hoped would comfort the younger in his arms.

doyoung didn’t know why he was crying. it was too sudden. he just started crying as soon as he was hugged. maybe he needed someone who he can finf comfort with, but that wasn’t possible.

that someone must already hate him.

“doyoung, hey doyoung,” taeyong called out.

doyoung simply hummed in response, not looking up at taeyong even once.

taeyong whispered something in his ear that made him look up at him, small streaks of tears still coming out of his eyes.

“but what if i get caught? i can never get to do that again,” he replied.

“doyoung, you need to be happy. what is life when you are just sad and you find yourself regretting at things that you have done? that isn’t life, its torture, forcing yourself to live just to fulfill someone’s desire instead of your own,” taeyong said.

“do it, no one will stop you.”

༒︎❦︎༒︎

when jaehyun arrived in front of his house, bags in hand as he just came back from the market, he saw a person standing in front of it. simply staring at the door, looking like the person has no plan of moving towards it or moving away from it.

as jaehyun continued to walk towards the door, he started to see the identity of the said person.

he gasped when he saw who it was, almost dropping his bags in the process.

_what was he doing here?_

jaehyun took careful steps towards the person who seems to be hesitating if he should knock at their door, or if he should just leave.

as soon as jaehyun got his attention, the person seems to have been startled by it.

“what brings you here, your majesty?” he asked as he bowed.

the possibilities of doyoung wanting to see him was running in his mind and it was doing things to his hear, and he was starting to feel—

“oh mr. jung, perhaps, is your cousin inside your home right now? the prince — specifically yukhei — asked.

_oh, so doyoung wasn’t looking for me then_.

jaehyun felt all those bubbly feelings in him stop, as he sighed and replied to the prince.

“no, he isn’t inside right now.”

“oh. so where is he then?” yukhei asked.

jaehyun was debating with himself if he should tell the prince where his cousin is or not. but if it could help mark’s cause, then maybe he should.

“at the bar.”

“what? why is he there?” jaehyun could hear yukhei gasp.

“he said he was looking for someone. he didn’t really mention who, but yes, he went to the bar,” jaehyun said.

the prince bowed and thanked him, then went on his merry way.

jaehyun then went inside his home, heart and mind still shattered. he thought that the prince’s reason of coming here was to tell him that doyoung wanted to meet him somewhere, but he guessed he was wrong.

as he placed the things he bought into the cupboards and storage boxes, he sighed whenever he paused in his actions.

what if he just decided to give up on doyoung and the dreams of him being with him?

after yukhei left the vicinity of the jung household, he proceeded to search where the person he was looking for was. the last time yukhei saw mark was almost a month ago, when the other was drunk and he had to bring him home himself.

to be honest, he didn’t even know why he was looking for this mark person. he would have just forgot about the latter and moved on with his life, but he didn’t.

yukhei found the outside world very interesting. the atmosphere was always lively. every corner, every street, every home, it looked like everyday was a celebration with the lights shining from the light bulbs, and people chatting into the night, not caring about the world around them.

it looked _fun_ , something that he wished would feel everyday.

he sighed as he looked at the sky, staring at the moon which was shining as bright as it can. he immediately thought about the life he would have had if the royal family didn’t adopt him when he was infant, how different would his actions be right now if he was surrounded by the people outside of the palace walls.

despite the luxury that comes with being a royal, the life there was pretty dull. the amount of people that a prince could communicate with was limited, when you want something it needs to be something that the king approves, the activities that one needs to be engaged with should be the one common within royals. and there was one thing yukhei didn’t like about being a royal.

having to live up to other people’s standards.

that was the worst, and yukhei wanted to change that.

“shit, not the birds,” yukhei heard a voice exclaim a few meters away from him.

the prince turned around, and there he saw.

“mark?”

the other boy stopped cleaning away the poop one bird decided to place on him, and looked up to the voice that called for him.

as mark saw the person and heard the voice, his mind flashes back to the day he first met the royal, in his drunken state and his actions filled with stupidity.

_shit_ , he thought as he turned around and started walking to the other direction.

“hey, wait!” yukhei called as he followed the other.

mark fastened his pace, too embarrassed to look at the prince who seems to be following him. out of all the opportunities they could have met, it just had to be when he was drunk and when he had no idea of whatever action he did.

but despite his fast pace, the prince still managed to catch up to him and caught his wrist which made mark stop in his tracks.

mark was someone who grew up being taught to always be respectful to those around him, older or younger than him.

so he greeted the prince, but still kept his head hung low.

“i see you aren’t drunk tonight,” the prince said as he laughed.

mark looked up as he raised one of his eyebrows at the prince, who just shrugged as he ruffled the other’s hair.

“i am yukhei, by the way,” the prince said as he extended a hand.

“i know,” mark replied, ignoring the hand being extended to him.

yukhei placed his hand back to his side as he just stood there. so maybe that wasn’t what he planned earlier when he decided to go the other’s house. it was the exact opposite, actually.

he clearly thought how they would be joking around as if they were best friends already, but he was wrong.

the atmosphere between them was awkward. he was just standing there, humming, trying to put a sound in the silence, while mark was avoiding eye contact with the prince.

“so,” yukhei started, “you were cute when you were drunk.”

mark choked on his saliva, then quickly regained composure.

“thanks, i heard it from a lot of people,” he replied.

“how about we go drink?” the prince asked to which resulted to another choking fit from mark.

“what?”

“i mean, the atmosphere is kinda killing me. a drink wouldn’t hurt, right?”

“but we aren’t friends,” mark said.

yukhei gave out an _oh_ , then became silent. mark panicked, thinking if he said something wrong in their short exchange earlier, but if he did, what would the prince do to him.

but he didn’t expect the next words that came out of the prince’s mouth.

“well that can always be changed, right?” yukhei said.

mark yelped as he felt yukhei grab his hand as the prince started leading him towards the bar where he first saw mark in his drunken state.

“where are we going?” mark found himself asking even if the answer was obvious.

“lets go get to know each other over a bottle of alcohol,” yukhei said as he smiled at the other.

mark wanted to disagree and say that he needed to head home, but he didn’t have the heart to. maybe because he too, wanted to know more about this prince who decided to bring him home on one of his worst nights.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

doyoung didn’t follow what taeyong told him during that day. in fact, another week has already passed yet he didn’t even try to step out of the palace.

he sighed as he stared at himself in his vanity mirror. he didn’t look like himself, he can tell that. his cheeks weren’t as rosy as they were, probably the result of his sleepless nights whenever he ends up thinking about jaehyun and regretting every single thing he did.

he even regretted it to the point he wished he never had decided to go out into the outside that night.

it was now two days before his wedding day with sicheng. doyoung still remembers about what the chinese prince told him.

doyoung wanted to say that their situations were different, that their stories do not have any similarities whatsoever, but no. if doyoung did say that, he would just find himself lying.

sicheng fell in love with a commoner, just like how he did with jaehyun.

what was different was that they tried, but failed, and that was how their story ended.

but doyoung and jaehyun’s wasn’t. they still haven’t talked if they should end what they were doing or if they should try until they succeed.

there were so many thoughts in his mind after he heard sicheng’s story. he felt bad for asking, but he was curious. he could still see how the other prince was hurt from that experience, but what can doyoung do? he was only a listener.

“you know, if you want to be with him so badly, then tell him,” sicheng said after he saw doyoung’s expression.

this was the last day they were supposed to be seeing each other, for tomorrow, both will be separated in preparation for their wedding.

“i can’t. my father, he—”

“doyoung,” sicheng interrupted, “if you don’t, you will just end up regretting it.”

“but what if i am already regretting it?” doyoung said as he looked up from his plate.

it was lunch time, and the conversation they were having right now was clearly not the typical conversation a pair would have during that hour, but doyoung couldn’t care less.

“doyoung,” sicheng said as he tried to place his hand over doyoung’s.

“sicheng, its okay. lets just eat, okay?” he finally said as he smiled and continued.

unbeknownst to the pair, someone had manage to hear their conversation, and that someone could feel her heart shatter at the words she managed to pick up.

doyoung was already in his pajamas, made with green-colored silk. he stared into his window, looking into the night sky. every now and then, he would reminisce the past months, and it would always have the same impact to his heart.

hurt, a feeling that is now normal to his heart.

when he was about to lay down on his bed, and shut his eyes, a knock came to the door.

“doyoung, sweetie. are you awake?” the voice asked.

_what was she doing here_ , he thought as he walked towards the door, and opened it.

he was greeted by the sight of his mother, who was already wearing her night gown.

doyoung bowed and greeted her as he made space so the older lady can enter.

he closed the door behind him, then lead his mother to sit on chair in front of his vanity. when he looked into his mother’s eyes, he noticed that it was filled with concern, worry, and sadness.

“mother,” doyoung spoke.

“oh doyoung,” his mother said as she caressed his hair, “oh my precious doyoungie, my precious child, doyoungie.”

“mother,” he replied as he leaned into her touch.

a mother’s touch was always warm in doyoung’s opinion, and he felt that maybe it was the one that he needed the most right now.

“doyoung, why didn’t you tell me?”

“what didn’t i tell you, mother?”

“that you have fallen for a boy not born from royalty,” his mother said.

doyoung tensed at first, but when he felt his mother started caressing his cheeks, he found himself leaning into the touch once more.

“i’m sorry, mother,” he apologized, but his mother hushed him.

“no honey, don’t apologize. you can’t decide what your heart wants.”

“but mother.”

“doyoung, have you told you the story of how i met your father?”

doyoung simply hummed, not understanding where his mother was getting at, but he didn’t mind. the stories his mother kept telling him were interesting, so he was sure that this story will be the same.

“listen carefully, my child,” his mother said as she started.

“back when i was still the daughter of the late king of china, your father and i were best friends. remember how we used to tell you and yukhei about the mischief we did?”

doyoung nodded.

“there was actually a secret that no one knew, but me. to say it was a mischief isn’t right, but i don’t know what word would be able to describe it.

“you see, doyoung, i was never your father’s first love, nor did he even start loving me.”

doyoung looked up when he felt his mother stop caressing his cheeck as her hand fell onto her lap.

“your father, he was in the same situation as you. he managed to fell in love with a commoner, someone who worked in the fields. he knew that what he was doing was forbidden by his father’s rules, but did your father listen? no. he was stubborn, and i helped him sneak out every night,” his mother chuckled at the memory.

“but he was soon caught being seen with the commoner. his father punished him, and kept him lock in his room for weeks. i was the only one allowed besides your grandmother to see him. doyoung, he was broken. i felt bad, really bad, and i guess our relationship was also taken into advantage.

“when we got married, he never loved me. but as the days passed, your father found himself improving, and that was when he started to fall in love with me,” his mother smiled.

“when we had you, your father promised me that he will never be like his father, someone who forced him into doing something that was never in his favor. if your grandfather was still alive, you bet yukhei never would have been with us until this day,” she ended.

doyoung simply looked at her, but when he felt his mother wipe away his tears, that was when he realized, he was crying.

he chuckled at himself for crying at such a story, but he couldn’t also believe it. his father also experienced the same thing as he was, but instead of hurting, he found love again, in the form of his mother.

“does he regret it?” he asked.

“our marriage? no, but there was always something that your father regretted,” his mother said.

“and that is?”

“not being able to fight for the person he loved,” his mother told him, “we even had a talk about this when we were still early into our marriage. he told me how he wished he could just turn back time, and tell his father about the girl in the village.

“back then, your father would always wallow in his tears, and i couldn’t do anything. but i am happy that he found happiness again.

“but enough about our story. how about you, my child, are you regretting things?”

doyoung kept silent at first. he didn’t know how to answer that. he was regretting every single thing, especially when he left jaehyun that day. when he heard the story, he did something, like turning on a switch that he didn’t know he had it in him.

“if i say that i do?”

“oh doyoung,” his mother exclaimed as she hugged him as tight as he can.

“my child, i just want you to be happy.”

“but i can’t,” he answered.

his mother cupped his face in her hands as she looked at him straight into his brown-colored eyes.

“doyoung, you will be happy.”

“but mother—”

“you can still make things work,” she said.

“but what about sicheng?” he asked.

“sicheng is sicheng, he can still go back to china and find his own happiness. i know about his story, and i do pity him, but forcing him into this is something i do not want for someone in my family. but you, my child, can still change the course of events,” she said as she started caressing his hair.

“mother, but—”

“find him, and promise him that you will always be there for him.”

“but mother, what if he hates me for leaving him?” he finally asked.

“if he truly loves you, then what he feels about you will never change.

“now go, find the person you find your happiness with.”

doyoung could not believe the fact that his mother knew so much about the secret passages hidden in the palace. he found himself being lead by his mother into the kitchens, and into the farthest corner of the room. there stood a portrait of the first of south korea. at first, he gave his mother a questioning look, but when his mother pulled its frame, he was now face to face with a passage that was being lit with torches on its walls.

before the door was closed, his mother gave him a kiss on his forehead.

“promise me that you will find your true happiness,” his mother said.

he nodded, then bid her goodbye.

doyoung turned around to face the endless corridor. he breathed in and breathed out.

at the end, this will all be worth it.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

jaehyun was given a day off from his father. he was grateful for it, but his father never told him the reason why. its not like he cared anyway.

instead of deciding where to go, he let his feet take him to wherever his heart desired.

he passed by the structures he found himself familiar with, the people who he found himself engaging in conversations once in a while, the town’s square where children were gathered for their field trip, and the amusement park he took doyoung when they decided to hang out.

he didn’t stop there though, instead his feet kept on walking, until it brought him there.

the beach.

jaehyun sighed as felt the breeze, taking in the smell of seawater, and listening to the sounds of the waves crashing.

he was about to turn around and leave, but when he wanted to step a foot forward, his body didn’t comply. he tried with his other foot, but it still didn’t. twice, thrice, it still didn’t comply.

he simply sighed, and just let his heart take over.

so now, he found himself sitting on the seashore, simply looking at the beach. he didn’t know how long he was staying there, but he started to notice the bright sky turn into orange then into colors of purple then finally, the dark starry night.

the stars twinkle at him as if telling him a story.

_a story of how stupid i look, probably_ , he thought.

thinking that he spent too much time here, jaehyun stood up and dusted off the sand on his butt.

he turned around, and started walking.

but when he looked up, he found himself stop in his tracks.

“jaehyun.”

“jaehyun,” doyoung called the boy in front of him.

he took note of how different his face looked right now. it wasn’t the same look he had when he last saw him. this face, it looked drained, tired from everything.

“doyoung,” jaehyun called back.

that was when doyoung couldn’t take it anymore.

he started running, jaehyun doing the same. they ran and ran, until finally, they arrived in each other’s arms, hugging each other tightly.

jaehyun could feel his shirt getting wet, so he looked at the prince, and saw that he was crying.

“oh my god, doyoung,” jaehyun called, “why are you crying?”

he asked that as he wiped the tears falling from the prince’s eyes.

“i thought i was going to lose you. i thought you hated me,” doyoung said.

“oh doyoung, no matter how many times you hurt me, i will still be here, waiting for you,” jaehyun said.

doyoung looked into the other’s eyes, taking note of how his eyes shine under the night sky, and how much jaehyun’s eyes look like it holds the universe in it. then he felt his eyes look at his lips, then back at his eyes, as if asking permission for a kiss.

jaehyun noticed it, then nodded.

doyoung placed his hand on the back of jaehyun’s neck, then pulled him close. at this point, he could feel his heartbeat going in sync with jaehyun’s.

he looked into the other’s eyes one last time, then finally, he closed the gap between them.

the kiss was long, and it was very needed. they have finally filled in the space that was missing for way too long. lips going in sync as they kissed, doyoung felt like his world was finally complete.

when they parted, they simply stared into each other’s eyes, then they laughed.

jaehyun pulled the prince into a hug once again, doyoung reciprocating it.

“i missed you,” jaehyun said.

“i missed you too,” doyoung said back.

jaehyun also wanted to say the other three words that he wished to tell the prince, but held himself back because he didn’t want the same thing to happen again.

but it seems like doyoung had other plans.

“do you know that i love you?” doyoung asked as he looked at the other’s face.

jaehyun was still at first, processing the question doyoung asked him. and when he finally understood, he smiled.

“if you do love me, then you should know that i love you too,” jaehyun replied.

they just stared into each other’s eyes, feeling like everything was a void and that they were in their own world, with just them as the population.

“will you stay with me?” jaehyun asked.

“jaehyun, you are the only thing that keeps me going. of course i will stay with you, and you will stay with me.”


	5. until forever will our worlds collide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> because to doyoung, jaehyun was his home.
> 
> and to jaehyun, doyoung was his fairy tale ending.

after the kiss they shared and the constant need to hug one another, doyoung and jaehyun now find themselves hand in hand, walking along the seashore. it was beautiful, the night sky, but in doyoung’s opinion, nothing can compare to the beauty beside him.

the music playing was the one made by nature, as the sounds of sea crash with sand, and as the wind blows towards their direction.

oh, and fast footsteps were coming towards them.

_wait, fast footsteps?_ doyoung questioned in his mind.

whipping his head towards the back, untangling his hand with jaehyun’s in the process, the prince noticed a pair of boys coming towards them. one of them looked awfully familiar to doyoung, with his height much taller than the person he was with.

jaehyun, who was concerned at the sudden movement, turned his head as well, and there he saw, the same people doyoung saw.

“oh my gosh, it is really them, mark!” they heard one of the boys exclaim.

“yukhei, you are being too loud!” the other boy silenced the taller male.

_mark? yukhei?_ both of them thought in sync.

feeling that they both thought of the same thing, doyoung and jaehyun went on sharing knowing looks between each other, then back to the pair, who was now a few meters away from them.

when the other two noticed that they have gotten the attention of the ones who were older than them, they stopped in their tracks, as they pretended as if they weren’t following the two.

“yukhei, this isn’t what you learned during training!” doyoung remarked as he laughed.

while he was laughing, all three boys looked at him as if he was possessed. there wasn’t anything wrong with doyoung laughing, it was just, unusual given their situation.

those thoughts didn’t last long, because jaehyun started to shout at mark as well.

“it looks like you have seen your prince charming, mark lee!”

without hesitation, mark charged towards jaehyun, sand in his hand. doyoung heard the person beside him yelp then went dashing towards the opposite direction.

watching the scene unfold, the prince found himself laughing at the exchange of the two. to doyoung, it was like watching a scene from a movie, where in a pair would purposely cause trouble and the one with the upper hand usually takes in charge when it comes to nagging.

doyoung felt someone wrapped their arm on his shoulder, and he knew that it was none other than yukhei himself.

“you look happy, doyoung. much livelier than i have ever seen you this past month,” yukhei told him.

doyoung smiled at him as he continued staring at the person he found his happiness with being chased by his younger cousin.

“i haven’t felt this happy for a long time, yukhei.”

“i can agree to that. you never looked happy _happy_ before you started to sneak out,” yukhei started, “but what will you do about him?”

“what do you mean?” doyoung asked as he looked at the other prince.

“i mean, you are getting married to sicheng, right?” yukhei asked back.

“oh that, the marriage might not happen.”

yukhei was baffled at what the older just said. that marriage was carefully planned by both parties. doyoung just can’t bail out on the said agreement.

“yukhei, have you heard of the story of how mother met our father?”

“doyoung, this isn’t the time for storytelling.”

“oh, this isn’t just an ordinary story. now listen to the story of how mother met our father.”

and just like that, their night by the beach was filled with laughter, and memories that were overdue for those who are in love.

as quiet as they can, doyoung and yukhei passed by the palace gates, through the palace grounds, and finally to the stairway towards the main entrance of the palace.

since it was night, the designs on the door couldn’t be seen like how it was seen in the day, but doyoung still find it beautiful.

when they _sneakily_ entered the palace, yukhei being first and doyoung last, they thought they were safe, and that they can continue with their night with only having to replay the memories earlier.

that was, until they heard someone cleared their throat behind them.

“looks like someone had a fun night outdoors,” the voice said.

nervous, doyoung and yukhei shared looks, then turned around as slow as possible, afraid to meet the gaze of the king.

they gulped, before they bowed to greet the king.

“to my study, both of you,” the king said as he turned around and went up the staircase.

when the king finally reached the top, doyoung let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

the walk back to their house was one full of teasing, more like mark making weird jokes about jaehyun and how he was acquainted with the heir to throne of south korea.

“you know, i always wondered if i would ever live like a princess from all the fairy tale stories we were told,” mark shared.

_now, this is just getting sad_ , jaehyun thought.

“and now look at you, my own cousin, being able to live like one of those princesses,” mark exclaimed as he wrapped his arm around jaehyun.

they continued walking, with mark ranting about how fairy tales can sometimes be unrealistic, and that it was just giving false hope to those who were actually believing in the stories they shared.

despite mark describing his life as a _fairy tale_ , jaehyun still wondered about what he managed to hear from doyoung and yukhei’s conversation earlier.

_“you are getting married to sicheng, right?”_ those were the words that he heard yukhei tell doyoung earlier.

_but doyoung never mentioned anything about marrying someone_ , jaehyun thought to himself.

unconsciously, he stopped in his tracks, and he didn’t notice that he did until mark approached him and tapped him on his shoulder.

“hey dude, are you alright?” the younger asked.

jaehyun mumbled incoherent words, which made mark even more curious as to what he said.

“come again?”

“i said, our story isn’t a fairy tale.”

“why not?” mark asked, “you two look at each other as if each of you had manage to hold the whole universe just for the other to see.”

“mark,” jaehyun said as he looked up, and mark saw the tears that was starting to form in his eyes.

“he is getting married, mark.”

“what?” mark asked as he looked at jaehyun, puzzled.

“he is getting married, and i’m not the one, mark.

“our story may seem like a fairy tale, but no fairy tale would end with the princess not marrying the love of her life.”

༒︎❦︎༒︎

_tap_

_tap_

_tap_

as each tap grew louder, doyoung could feel his heartbeat grow faster. he was trying to convince himself that this was just like any other and that they would be able to move on just like how it always was, but why was his subconscious telling him that this will be different.

as he looked up to look at yukhei, he saw that the other was trying to avoid any eye contact with him.

doyoung doesn’t blame him, and he never will. though there was yukhei knowing about his arranged marriage with sicheng, he still didn’t blame him.

a thick atmosphere surrounded the room as the royals sat in silence on their respective seats.

the only sound there was is the constant tapping of their father’s fingers on the table.

“so,” their father started, “this is what you do at night huh? going out and coming back the next morning without telling anyone.”

doyoung gulped as he shifted his gaze towards the floor beneath him. it suddenly became very interesting, with gold and black contrasting one another. it was very interesting indeed.

noticing how his brother wasn’t planning on saying anything, yukhei started to speak.

“father—”

“yukhei, i thought you would have been different, seeing as you always follow the rules of the palace and whatever i ask of you,” his father cut him off.

yukhei immediately backed down and just like doyoung, shifted his gaze towards the floor as well.

“how did i know?” their father started, “remember, the guards are still under my wing as my term continues. they will answer whatever questions i ask of them.

“i am very disappointed in you, two,” he said as he looked at them both.

“i have always thought you two would be the pair that would listen to your elders very well, take in whatever they teach you, listen to whatever people expect of you,” the king has raised his voice at this point, “but of course, you still rebelled against me and your mother.”

doyoung bowed his head in shame. he always told himself that being a rebel against his parents would be bad, but he still sneaked out whenever he can, and even managed to make himself fall for a commoner.

_you really must be stupid, kim doyoung,_ he told himself.

both of the princes felt chills went down their spine as they heard their father’s seat move backward, and as they heard footsteps walking towards them.

at first, yukhei felt relieved when he heard the footsteps become distant from where he was sitting, but then panicked when he realized that their father was going towards doyoung.

as the shadow of their father loomed over him, doyoung felt his hands start to shake due to nervousness. was he about to get the beating of his life? he didn’t know.

as doyoung awaited for the pain to come, he felt himself start shaking. but the contact of his father’s palm to his face never came, instead, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him.

“doyoung, why didn’t you tell me?” his father asked calmly as he started rubbing circles on his back.

“father?” he called.

“doyoung, i may be disappointed for your actions, but i am more disappointed at the fact that you didn’t open up to me about what you felt.”

at his point, his father looked at him in the eye, and doyoung looked back to him as well.

“your mother told me,” his father suddenly said, breaking the silence.

“she did?”

“if it wasn’t for her, then we would have already started decorating the palace grounds for your wedding,” his father chuckled, “why do you think the grounds still look the same?”

doyoung wanted to relax when his father mentioned about the marriage being cancelled, but he was afraid. he was afraid of the fact that their relations with china would end because of him.

“but father, how about sicheng?” he found himself asking.

“doyoung, our countries will still be on contact whether you marry sicheng or not. what is important is that you are happy, and so will sicheng,” his father told him.

doyoung wasn’t sure as to how will he react, but maybe his heart knows, because he found himself crying. he was crying because he felt relieved at the fact that he wasn’t going to be forced into marrying someone just for convenience, and he was given the freedom to fall for someone who he really loves.

he cried even harder when he felt his father hug him and proceeded to hum a tune that doyoung hadn’t listen to in so long. it was the tune of the song which his father used to sing him to sleep whenever he had nightmares.

yukhei, who was just watching the scene in front of him unfold, started crying as well. he stood up and went to the other two in the room.

their father noticed his presence, so he opened his arms for yukhei to join them in the hug.

they stayed in that position for as long as they can remember, and they all broke apart when their father started complaining about his back aching, to which doyoung and yukhei just chuckled as a response.

“you both will always be my greatest treasures,” their father said as he placed his hands on top of theirs.

“and doyoung?” his father called.

“yes, father?”

“get your man, don’t be like me and end up living a life of regret.”

doyoung nodded and stood up to bow to his father.

when he was about to leave, with yukhei in tow, his father called him again making doyoung groan in response.

“what now?”

“propose to him like a royal,” his father smirked.

yukhei laughed at that while doyong found himself choke on his own saliva.

“what do you mean _propose to him like a royal_?” he asked as he composed himself.

“for starters, you can always court him and serenade him _at night_ ,” their father purposely emphasized the ‘at night’ part which made yukhei laugh even harder.

doyoung could feel he was as red as a tomato right now, so he covered his cheeks, and muttered a _whatever_ as he turned around to leave the study of his father.

despite his reaction to his father’s suggestion of courting jaehyun, doyoung did thought of that, and he was beyond the heavens when his father told him that he will be proud of whatever decision he was about to make.

doyoung finally laid in bed knowing that those sleepless nights because of constantly thinking of jaehyun were all worth it.

because if he didn’t, then he wouldn’t have a clue as to how he should propose to jaehyun _like a royal_.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

“i can’t believe i agreed to do this,” yukhei muttered under his breath.

it has been a few days since the events inside their father’s study hall happened, and two days since doyoung begged him to be part of his plan to court jaehyun.

oh how much yukhei regretted this.

at first he thought that his brother would simply let him talk to jaehyun about marrying doyoung as if it was the most normal thing in the world, but when today came, his thoughts were the exact opposite.

he was now standing in front of the jung household, holding an envelope that was stamped with the royal family crest. in yukhei’s opinion, the placing of the royal crest on the envelope was inappropriate, but doyoung emphasized that it was for _formality_.

_as if him meeting jaehyun was formal in the first place_ , yukhei thought.

what was more stupid was that doyoung forced him to wear such hideous clothes that he looked like a clown. even the people of the village agreed, because whenever he turns a corner, children would laugh at him.

yukhei groaned as he replayed the events that happened before he arrived to his destination.

never in his life was he embarrassed like this.

in his head, he counted up to three, then finally, he went towards the door of the jung household, and knocked.

from where he stood, yukhei could hear shuffling of feet and whispers being exchanged. it was as if they were arguing on who should opened the door. as yukhei continued to listen, he found it amusing as to how they could hold such conversation.

he was too deep in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the door opening, and there stood a man who looked like he was in his late 50s. the said man cleared his throat, gaining the prince’s attention.

with wide eyes, yukhei immediately regained his composure, and bowed to the man in front of him.

at first, the elder hesitated to speak to him. it must be the clothes, or it must be how he acted when he opened the door, but mr. jung knows that he shouldn’t judge a person at one glance.

“excuse me, is there a problem?” mr. jung asked.

yukhei gulped, nervous about what he was about to do.

instead of answering, he simply gave the envelope to the man and avoided eye contact.

and as expected, yukhei heard the man gasp as soon as he noticed the royal crest in front of the envelope.

the prince could practically hear the man’s thoughts like _what was a royal doing here_ , _what was his reason of coming here_ , and so on.

“your highness,” he heard the man greet.

yukhei smiled at the man, and bowed to him as well.

the man — who introduced himself as _mr. jung_ — gave way for the prince to enter the door, and yukhei was grateful that the man was very accommodating which made his work much easier than he thought.

as the prince and mr. jung continued to chat in the dining room of the house, in his room did mark found himself laying on his bed, counting the number of times did he think about yukhei.

the latter could still recall the words jaehyun shared about fairy tales. it wasn’t that deep, but it did something to mark’s heart. the problem was, he didn’t know what.

thirsty and hungry for food, mark stood up from his bed, then stretched for a while.

after that, he ran his fingers through his hair, and went out of his room.

in the halls, he could hear chattering and laughter coming from the floor downstairs. curious, mark walked faster than normal, then tiptoed when he arrived at the staircase.

being as sneaky as possible, mark proceeded to hide behind the bookshelf that bordered the dining room and the living room.

he didn’t know what to expect, but he also didn’t expect to see yukhei out of all people.

sensing another person in the room, yukhei turned around in his seat, and also did not expect to see mark staring at him in shock.

seeing the sudden change in the atmosphere, mr. jung also decided to look at what was happening. there he saw his nephew and the royal in front of him in a staring contest.

mr. jung cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the other room.

“do you know each other?” he asked, causing mark to blush.

noticing the blush starting to form on mark’s face, the man excused himself from his seat and told the two boys that if ever they need him, he would be out in the back.

mark and yukhei found themselves out of the jung household, and decided to head out into the village. but before they did, mark gave the latter a change of clothes so he wouldn’t have to embarrass himself much longer.

“so,” mark started, “why were you in our house earlier?”

“that? oh, i was just doing doyoung a favor,” yukhei answered truthfully.

this got mark’s attention, so he asked the prince to elaborate about this _favor_.

and so yukhei enlightened mark about the plans doyoung had for his courting, the marriage that would soon happen between doyoung and jaehyun, and how doyoung begged for him to help so he wouldn’t have to carry all the embarrassment his plans had.

at the end, mark ended up laughing, and so did yukhei.

“wait,” mark said as he caught his breath, “what you are saying is that, doyoung — the heir to the throne of south korea — wants to marry my cousin, jung jaehyun, who is just a commoner who works in the fields?”

“that is indeed correct, mr. lee,” yukhei said jokingly as he continued to walk.

mark, on the other hand, stopped in his tracks as he processed what the prince just told him. he smiled as he imagined the reaction jaehyun would have if he knew about doyoung’s plans.

_his life may be a fairy tale after all_ , mark thought.

“aren’t you coming?” yukhei called out.

mark looked up, still smiling, and ran towards where the taller man stood.

“why are you smiling like that?” the other asked as he wrapped his arm around the latter’s shoulder.

“nothing, i am just happy.”

_jung jaehyun, i am rooting for you_ , mark thought for one last time then shifted his attention to the man beside him.

_maybe he was getting his own happy ending as well_.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

doyoung groaned for the nth time that day, making taeyong concerned for him.

the prince was in the middle of planning on how he was about to execute this plan of his. at first, he thought it was simple, but when he looked at it again, it seemed harder than expected.

“you know, how about you think about this plan of yours in his perspective?” taeyong suggested.

taeyong wasn’t really doyoung’s first choice when it came to advice, but when he asked johnny earlier about how he asked taeyong to be his boyfriend, the other answered that it wasn’t him who asked but the man in front of him.

that was how taeyong ended up in the palace out of schedule.

“in his perspective?” doyoung asked, “was that how you asked johnny out?”

“what? oh heavens no,” taeyong said, “i didn’t exactly thought about it in his perspective. i thought of how he would react to it, and i also thought of how that plan of mine would get him to say yes.”

“isn’t that the same thing?”

“no.”

“but what if my assumptions are wrong?” doyoung asked.

“why would it be wrong?” taeyong asked back.

doyoung was about to question back, but the older silenced him by placing a finger on his lips.

“doyoung, i don’t know what kind of advice do you seek, but i only know one thing.

“believe in yourself. if you believe, then the higher the chance your plan will work.”

with that, taeyong excused himself from his seat, and went out of the prince’s chambers, informing that he still had plans for that day.

doyoung groaned when he heard the door close.

it wasn’t that he was confident nor did he not believe in himself. it was just, this was his first time and he wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing.

later that night, doyoung did not expect to do this. he was standing in front of his father’s study hall, debating if he should actually go in or just head back to bed.

maybe he wasn’t so silent, because he could hear his father call out to him from the inside.

“you can come in!”

_breath in_

_breath out_

doyoung shook his hands, then placed it on the door knob. he twisted the object, opened the door, then entered his father’s study hall.

it seemed like his father wasn’t alone, because when he finally adjusted his vision to the light inside his study, he noticed that there were two other people inside.

namely, sicheng and his own mother, and it seemed like that they were expecting him, because on the table, there were not only three but four teacups on display.

after doyoung and sicheng finally catched up with each other, the king decided to ask the reason why the heir to the throne decided to show up in his study this late at night.

“father,” doyoung started.

“yes?”

“how did you propose to mother?”

doyoung didn’t know what he expected as answer, but he felt embarrassed when the response he got was laughter from his parents and sicheng.

his mother apologized for laughing, then went on with explaining that no one proposed to each other. she then let doyoung remember about the story of how they ended up together.

that was where it clicked in doyoung, the reason of their laughter.

_his father didn’t propose. it was an arranged marriage, just like what happened to sicheng and him_.

doyoung found himself laughing as well, then sicheng decided to joke around, as usual.

“i thought you knew everything doyoung. what happened now?” the chinese asked.

doyoung scratched his neck, then mumbled incoherent words.

“come again.”

“this is my first time proposing to someone,” doyoung said in a louder voice.

he wanted the ground to swallow him whole as the other three people in the room decided to laugh at his answer.

besides that, doyoung felt happy. this was his first time in a long time to see his parents this calm around him, and he wishes that this kind of exchange would happen again in the near future.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

it was another day, with the sun shining as bright as it can and as the trees sway as the winds danced with its leaves.

jaehyun stretched his limbs as he stood up from his laying position, and ran his fingers through his hair.

he felt too happy for a morning, but he also didn’t know why he was this happy. maybe because of his dream where in he imagined him and doyoung in a trip to the maldives, or was it because he was still replaying the kiss he had with doyoung.

obviously, it was either. both were nice memories that his mind decided to let him remember.

jaehyun stood up from his bed, and head towards the bathroom. he still remembered how he looked when he thought doyoung left him. what was in front of him right now was a different jaehyun, the one who had rosy cheeks and a smile that could form dimples in his cheeks.

this, this was the jaehyun that he knew was his self.

“jaehyun, can you come out now? someone is waiting for you,” mark called as he banged on the bathroom door.

this made jaehyun snap out from his thoughts, and went on questioning who would be waiting for him this early.

he replied that he would be out soon and hurriedly washed his face.

when jaehyun went down, he didn’t know what to expect as to who would be waiting for him. what he saw was absolutely out of his expectations.

“what is this?” he asked as he gestured to the male who was wearing a suit and tie.

the said male was standing by the door, as if it was awaiting for him to come down from his room.

“hello, i am johnny. apparently, i am your designated driver today as per request from my friend,” the man — _johnny_ introduced himself.

“hello?” jaehyun said in a questioning tone.

he immediately looked at his father and mark, who were just staring at him with innocent looks. as soon as jaehyun noticed the look on their faces, he then told himself that he would have to deal with them later.

“johnny, was it?” the man in question nodded.

“can i change into better clothes? i don’t think this would do the trick,” jaehyun said as he gestured to his attire.

“sir, i think you look fine,” johnny said.

“but, i can still change. or will your friend not allow me?”

“just change if you wish.”

with that, jaehyun hurriedly went to his room, and closed the door shut behind him. when he was sure that no one followed him, he closed his eyes and leaned against the door.

he didn’t know what in the world was going on right now, but he will make sure that he will get to the bottom of this.

the drive was quite long to jaehyun, but in reality, it was just a whole 20 minutes from his house to the location johnny brought him to.

“the beach?” he questioned, “we could have just walked.”

“my friend—”

“yes, your friend requested you to do this. your friend must be very rich then to have such a wonderful car,” jaehyun said as he opened the door, and stepped out of the vehicle.

johnny opened his window, and signaled jaehyun to come closer, to which the man complied.

“another driver will come once you finish your business here. now, have a good day, mr. jung,” johnny said with a smile as he closed his window and drove off.

jaehyun stood here for a few minutes, gathering his thoughts.

still stuck with no conclusion, jaehyun sighed as he rubbed his temples. he shifted his attention to the beach, then he saw what he didn’t notice earlier.

_why are there fairy lights on the ground? and why are they designed as if it was forming an aisle?_ jaehyun thought.

he shook his head and tried to see if what he saw was a figment of his imagination or not. when he concluded that it was indeed real, jaehyun immediately thought about how rich this guy must be if he could afford to bring a driver to his place and use fairy lights to form an aisle.

as jaehyun followed the path, he started to notice the familiarity of the area. it was as if he had already came here with someone, but he couldn’t pinpoint who.

“oh, you arrived just in time!” a voice exclaimed.

that voice was too familiar to jaehyun, so when he turned around, he saw the person who was capable of doing all these.

“doyoung?”

the prince was wearing a silk white shirt, his hair waxed up that revealed his forehead.

jaehyun was shocked at how the prince looked, and he was speechless at how gorgeous the other looked. he immediately felt under-dressed when he realized his choice of clothing, a simple black shirt and some skinny jeans.

doyoung signaled jaehyun to come over to where he stood, and the latter followed.

he noticed how there was a picnic set up on the sand, and he saw that the food prepared was made for not one, but two. there were also a champagne bottle, but jaehyun thought that it was too early to drink liquors.

“what is all this?” he found himself ask.

“just a simple treat for someone special,” doyoung answered as he sat on the blanket and patted the area where the other was supposed to sit in.

as jaehyun sat, he noticed how soft the blanket was against his skin, and he wanted to ask doyoung if ever he could bring it home with him.

“so, how are you?” doyoung asked as he gave jaehyun one of the dishes he brought.

“i am fine, though i haven’t gotten any sleep lately because of the duties i was given, but so far, i am fine,” jaehyun replied as he opened the tupperware.

“that sounds great,” doyoung said as he opened his own tupperware as well.

“so why did you bring me here?”

“i was bored. the life in the palace is as dull as it can be,” the prince said.

_no matter how many times you complain about how dull the palace is, i will never not find it amusing_ , jaehyun thought as he looked at the prince.

doyoung then started another conversation, that led to them debating about how the other was right to the point that they were about to shout at each other.

thank goodness they were being taught manners when they were younger.

they continued to chat as they consumed the food doyoung brought with him from the palace. jaehyun would compliment the food every chance he got, not knowing that the one who prepared for the meals was the person beside him.

every time jaehyun would compliment, doyoung could feel the butterflies in his stomach flap their wings in happiness.

it seemed like time flew fast today, because when they looked up at the sky, hues of pink and purple started to show.

“it seems like we have been here for a few hours, huh,” jaehyun remarked as he chew the last piece of his food.

“yeah,” doyoung said as he took in the view.

“so jaehyun,” doyoung called.

jaehyun hummed as he continued to observe the sky.

“i still have something to show you,” the prince said as he stood up from his position and let out a hand for jaehyun to hold.

jaehyun didn’t respond at first, but he didn’t need to. doyoung could see his eyes shine in anticipation, wanting to see what other things the prince prepared for him.

not wanting to waste any time, jaehyun immediately held onto doyoung and pulled himself up.

they were about to leave, but jaehyun remembered about the picnic they had and how they were just about to leave their things.

“don’t worry about that,” doyoung assured him, “someone will pick those up soon.”

jaehyun just looked at him, puzzled, but nonetheless, nodded then let doyoung lead him to their next destination.

it was a familiar path, one that jaehyun found himself walking on every other day.

they were going to the hill, the place where he and the prince had first met.

jaehyun may not mention it to doyoung, but he could sense the nervousness radiating from the prince. he looked at him, confused as to why he was nervous. it was just him, so there was no reason to feel that way.

they continued their journey towards the top of the hill, both of them feeling the night breeze hit their skin.

doyoung was struggling at first, making jaehyun lead them both towards the top. when the latter arrived at the top, he held out his hand for the prince to hold.

“do i look stupid to you?” doyoung asked as he noticed the hand.

“do you want my help or not?” jaehyun asked back.

doyoung sighed at him. he hesitated at first, not wanting to appear weak, but he wanted his help. so, the prince grabbed onto the other as jaehyun pulled him to where he stood.

“well, that was easy,” jaehyun remarked.

the prince simply nodded at him as he dusted off the dirt from his clothes.

when he was finally done and had regain composure, doyoung looked up and overlooked their surroundings. the view was still the same as to when they first met, the lights from the houses below, and even from a far, he could feel the joy from the village.

while doyoung was admiring the view, jaehyun found himself staring at the admiration in doyoung’s eyes. under the moonlight, the prince looked ethereal. with the light touching his skin, he looked like an angel whose face was sculptured carefully by the gods.

“is there something on my face?” doyoung asked when he noticed the other staring.

jaehyun hummed, but when he realized the question doyoung asked him, he hurriedly shook his head _no_.

the prince hummed at him, not buying the answer jaehyun gave.

as time passed, they continued to admire the city below them, and that made doyoung wonder.

if jaehyun really did end up being his husband, would he miss the view of the village? would he miss his old life before he would become betrothed to the heir?

with all those questions running in his head, doyoung started to doubt about his intentions tonight. if he gave up, then he would obviously end up regretting about it.

he shook his head, disregarding the thoughts he had. if jaehyun did really love him, then he would accept him as he is.

“doyoung, what exactly are we doing here?” jaehyun asked.

“jaehyun, have you always wondered what life is at the palace?” doyoung asked back.

“i always do, but ever since you started sharing about your life there, i only thought of the life there in your shoes,” he replied, “why?”

“jaehyun,” doyoung called, “if i told you that one day you would be able to experience first-hand the life here, would you believe me?”

“w-what?” jaehyun stuttered.

he gasped when he saw doyoung grab a red velvet box and went down on one knee. jaehyun didn’t know what to think, and he could feel his mind go empty when the prince opened the box.

_a ring?_

_is he going to…_

_propose?_

“jaehyun,” doyoung started, “you are the best thing that ever happened in my life. ever since i met you, i never thought of anything else but you. before we met, i was dull and never an interesting person, but you. you changed me, and i have found myself grateful at how you influenced me.

“jaehyun, you are the first thing i want to see in the morning and the last thing i want to see when i go to bed. your voice is the only music i want to hear, and your warmth is the only thing i want to feel until the end of time,” doyoung stopped.

the prince looked up to meet the other’s eyes, who seemed to hold an unreadable expression.

“jung jaehyun, will you make me the happiest person alive and marry me?”

_thump_

_thump_

_thump_

jaehyun could feel his heart beat hysterically. it was as if it was trying to get out of his ribcage. but jaehyun, he didn’t know what to say. yes he was speechless, but there was something lingering in his mind that he couldn’t pinpoint.

he looked into doyoung’s eyes. it was full of anticipation and hope, and he didn’t want to break that look, but he still wasn’t ready.

the events were all too fast for jaehyun to catch up, and he knows he would feel bad at what he was about to say.

“one week,” jaehyun managed to let out.

“give me one week to answer your question,” and then he left running.

doyoung was about to run, to chase him and hold onto him so he would never let go, but jaehyun was too far.

_i thought we were in the same page. was i wrong?_ the prince thought.

he crouched on the ground as the box fell out of his hand.

maybe the prince wasn’t so lucky with love after all.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

as jaehyun shut the door of his bedroom, he slid down towards the floor, his back leaning against the wood.

he knew he was being unreasonable and that he shouldn’t have run, but when he let those words out, he knew that the prince would have hurt evident in his eyes.

“isn’t one week too long?” he mumbled to himself.

a knock came shortly, so jaehyun stood up and opened the door. the latter was greeted by the sight of his father, who was wearing a comforting smile.

jaehyun gave space for his father to enter, and the older man entered. he was grateful that he managed to clean the other day or else his father would have to nag at him.

his father sat down on his bed, then patted the space next to him. jaehyun immediately obeyed and sat next to his father.

“my boy, how are you?” his father asked.

“i am fine.”

“but you don’t really look like yourself, jaehyun. tell me, did something happen?” his father asked again as he placed a comforting hand on his son’s back.

jaehyun hung his head low in shame. he was hesitant to talk about this topic with his father, but he knows that he should. his father knew much better about this than him.

“the prince proposed to me,” he said.

his father hummed and said, “so?”

“i may have told him that i needed a week for me to figure out the answer.”

his father silently gasped as he continued to draw circles on his son’s back.

“a week? why so?” he asked.

“i don’t know father,” jaehyun said, “but i still think i’m not ready for something so huge.”

“jaehyun.”

“i mean, he is a prince and i am just a son of a farmer. how would our marriage even work? this isn’t a fairy for fucks sake.”

his father moved his hand towards his shoulder, then gave it a squeeze.

“jaehyun,” his father called.

jaehyun looked at him, and his father gave him a smile. he always wondered where he got his smile from, so seeing his father smile made him realize that he did look alike with his father.

“do you love him?”

“what?” jaehyun asked.

“do you love him, jaehyun? do you love kim doyoung?” his father asked again.

jaehyun sighed and answered, “yes.”

“do you trust him?”

“i do.”

“do you think he can make you happy even after you get married?”

“i do.”

“then trust in your relationship, son. you don’t have to be afraid. as long as you both believe in your relationship, you can conquer all,” his father said.

jaehyun looked up to meet his father’s gaze. the look on the older man’s face was one of comfort, and jaehyun felt assured in his presence. he hugged his father and the elder hugged him back.

he thanked his father as he continued to hug him.

“you don’t need to thank me. i am your father after all, the one who you need to lean on for guidance.”

back at the palace, the situation was quite similar. doyoung was cradled in his mother’s arms, who was combing his hair with her fingers.

as doyoung let his tears fall, his mother hummed him a song that she knew would calm him down.

“mother, do you think i am not deserved to be loved?” he asked.

“doyoung, everyone deserves to be loved, even the king needs to be loved,” his mother replied.

“then why did he reject me? i thought we loved each other. was it all a joke to him?”

“doyoung, if he really loves you, then he would always come back to you.”

“and if he doesn’t?” doyoung asked.

“then it will be his lost, dear. who wouldn’t want to marry such a decent man like you?” his mother said.

as the night grew, doyoung managed to fall asleep in his mother’s arms. so as she stood up, she carefully lifted his head, and placed it on his pillow. she covered his body with the comforter, then placed a kiss on his forehead.

“you are loved, my dear. always remember that,” she said then pecked his forehead one last time.

she stood up and looked at her son one last time, then went out of his chambers.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

a week passed agonizingly long, and doyoung felt his hope draining out of him slowly. he thought jaehyun was joking and that he would answer him a few days earlier, but no. maybe the other was indeed serious with the duration of one week.

he sighed as he laid on his bed. he stared at his window, taking in the sunlight that shone pass it. it was too bright compared to how he felt right now.

doyoung felt blue, cold. he felt like he was the personification of dead.

“doyoung,” yukhei called out and knocked.

“yes?” he replied, loud enough for the person on the other side to hear.

“someone is waiting for you in the dining hall.”

“me?”

“there isn’t another kim doyoung in the palace, is there?” yukhei joked.

doyoung told him that he would be out in a minute.

he stood up from his bed, then went towards the closet. if someone was indeed looking for him, then shouldn’t he wear clothes that looked decent. he grabbed the nearest silk button up shirt an a pair of slacks to wear, and went to his bathroom to freshen up and to change his attire.

as doyoung went down the staircase, he could hear laughter and chattering in the dining hall. he continued to walk down, not really minding who were being this loud in the morning.

before he entered the hall, he fixed his hair one last time, then breathed in and breathed out.

doyoung entered the room, and when he did so, the room fell silent as well.

he looked around the room, and his eyes went wide as he felt his mouth drop. besides his parents and yukhei, sitting in the seat next to his was the man he found himself loving.

“jaehyun?” he called, doubt evident in his voice.

he couldn’t believe it. was jung jaehyun really inside the palace or was his eyes playing mind games with him?

he heard a chair move backward, and he could see in his peripheral vision that someone stood up.

the person cleared their throat before he bowed to him.

“good morning, your highness. i hope i’m not too late,” he heard jaehyun say.

doyoung found himself stare at jaehyun. the other was wearing a suit and tie, and it was a given that this was the first time the prince saw him wear such attire. his hair was waxed up, and the prince just wanted to run up to him and kiss him.

but he knows he shouldn’t. he still remembered the words jaehyun said the past week, so he shouldn’t assume the reason why he was in the palace.

footsteps was coming towards him, then when the figure was already in front of him, a pair of arms went and hug him, pulling him close.

“did you miss me?” he heard the person ask.

doyoung couldn’t help the tears coming down from his face. he never thought that jaehyun, out of all people, would come inside the palace and ook for him. the reason of him coming here may still be unknown, but the prince would make use of all the time he had right now to be with jaehyun.

“hey, don’t cry. you would ruin my clothes,” jaehyun said jokingly.

this emitted a small laughter from the prince as he looked up to meet his gaze.

“i hope i’m not too late,” jaehyun said.

“too late for what?” doyoung asked.

“are you really acting stupid right now?”

“no jaehyun. i really do not know what you mean by that.”

jaehyun then leaned in, making doyoung’s breath hitch. the other was too close, much closer than they ever had been. he could feel the other breath in and breath out, and that alone was making doyoung weak on his knees.

“well,” jaehyun whispered, “i also want you to be the first thing i see in the morning, and the last thing i see before i go to bed.”

doyoung could feel his eyes widen. he remembered what he told jaehyun that night, but he didn’t expect the other to repeat the exact same words.

“if you haven’t caught on my words yet, here is something more simpler.

“yes, kim doyoung, i will marry you.”

and that, jaehyun leaned back and smiled widely at the prince, his dimples evident on his cheeks.

doyoung was speechless at first, then when he realized what the other said, he smiled as well, his gums visible at how wide he smiled.

the urge to kiss the other was so big that doyoung didn’t care if his parents and yukhei were in the same room as well. he cupped the other’s face, startling jaehyun . when the other realized what the prince was about to do, he nodded, giving him permission. so doyoung did.

he pulled the other’s face towards him, then closed the gap between them. they kissed, and it felt like they were in their own world. it was like they finally have connected the piece that was missing in their lives.

yukhei and their parents, who were simply watching the scene unfold in front of them, clapped and smiled as they finally saw the two lovers reunite under the roof of the palace that they would soon call _home_.

༒︎❦︎༒︎

who knew preparing for a wedding would be so exhausting? it was another day meeting up with the bakers, and doyoung was happy that today was finally the last day of preparations. the prince forgot when was the last time he saw his fiancé, but he did remember seeing him when they went to the tailor to get their suits fitted.

despite the hectic preparations, doyoung was excited for their wedding day to come. he was excited to finally show the world that jung jaehyun was his, and he was for jung jaehyun.

his mother came later that night, to give him a gift.

it was a family heirloom. a necklace to be exact. its chain was golden, and it held a pendant, its design was the sun and moon against each other.

“but mother,” he called, “isn’t this yours?”

“it isn’t really mine. it was from your grandfather,” his mother replied.

“oh.”

“he gave this as a gift to your grandmother for their wedding day, saying that she was everything that the _sun and moon_ described someone to be. now, i want you to take it,” she said.

“but why? this belongs to you,” doyoung argued.

“doyoung, this piece of jewelry was always given the night before a wedding happens. it had become a practice in our family. so take it, and make it a gift for jaehyun to wear.”

doyoung looked up at his mother, and gave her a hug. his mother hugged him back, and she could hear him say thank you on repeat.

“don’t thank me, my dear. thank jaehyun for accepting you into his life. not everyone would be willing to marry someone famous knowing the nation’s attention would be on them.”

flowers of different kinds were being decorated around the palace grounds. doyoung requested their marriage to be exclusive, only inviting their friends and family. his best man was sicheng, the person who made him realize that he should fight for the person he truly loves.

at first, the chinese prince hesitated, saying that it should be yukhei, but doyoung disagreed. yukhei may have been his brother, but sicheng had donne something more important that led him to this day.

“you look dashing as always, doyoung. i feel bad that jaehyun isn’t the first one to see you like this,” sicheng remarked as he sat on the couch.

“well you look dashing as well. but you would look even better if you just help me,” doyoung said.

“that doesn’t even connect.”

“i didn’t even plan to make it make sense.”

they continued to talk to pass the time.

in a few minutes, the ceremony would start. in a few minutes, he would be able to see jaehyun walk down that aisle, ready to dedicate his life by his life. in a few minutes, he was about to be married to the man of his dreams.

doyoung was too deep in his thoughts that sicheng had to push him off his seat to get his attention.

“what was that for?” doyoung asked as he dusted off the dust on his knees.

“i would have splashed water on you, you know,” sicheng replied.

“now take a deep breath, then breath out. the ceremony is about to start.”

the people who occupied the bleachers were about 30 as doyoung counted. on his side, there was the royal family of china, johnny and taeyong, and his own family. when he looked at jaehyun’s side, it looked like everyone in their family came. from grandparents to his parents to his aunts and uncles to his cousins, both young and old. it did look like everyone came.

the priest cleared his throat as the wedding bells were being rung. this signaled that the ceremony was about to begin.

doyoung inhaled and exhaled, nervous about this, but he assured himself than everything would be fine. their love was strong and the prince knows that everything will be alright.

the first to enter were the flower girls. since doyoung did not have any female relatives, all of them were from jaehyun’s side. hell, doyoung knows the fact that everyone in the entourage was from jaehyun’s family and the only ones who were from his side were his parents and sicheng.

when his parents went down the aisle, they gave him a smile. his father added a thumbs up in the end, which made doyoung give out a small laugh.

the entourage almost came to an end, with mark and sicheng entering being their best men.

then now was the moment they have all been waiting for.

the choir at the side started to sing as jaehyun came into view. by the other’s side were his parents, holding onto him.

jaehyun looked stunning, doyoung thought. he wore a white suit, contrast to doyoung’s black one. the prince remembered how the latter protested of having to hold a bouquet to their wedding, but doyoung laughed as he saw him hold the same bouquet he swore he would never hold.

all in all, jaehyun was beautiful and there was no word in this world that doyoung can use to describe such human being. hell, was he even human, doyoung didn’t know.

they met in the middle, as doyoung greeted his in-laws. they gave out jaehyun’s hand to his, meaning they have accepted their marriage. doyoung smiled at their exchange, and jaehyun’s father gave him a pat on the back.

once they have finally walked down the aisle, it was now his and jaehyun’s turn.

“shall we?” doyoung asked.

“we shall,” jaehyun answered.

together, they walked down the aisle towards the altar.

in their minds, they could not believe that this moment was finally happening. they only thought that their relationship would just be a secret until the end of time, but their past selves were wrong, because now, they were about to exchange their vows and say _i do_.

the priest was an entertaining one, and doyoung was glad that yukhei managed to persuade him into officiating his and jaehyun’s wedding.

when they had to exchange their vows, the priest tried to lighten the mood which made the soon-to-be husbands laugh causing the audience to laugh as well.

“do you, kim doyoung, take jung jaehyun to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?” the officiator asked.

“i do,” doyoung said as he looked into the other’s eyes.

“do you, jung jaehyun, take kim doyoung to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?”

“i do,” jaehyun answered as he looked back.

sniffles could be heard from their parents, and they smiled at each other.

this moment was about to end, but that doesn’t mean that their love would end.

they exchanged rings, and doyoung couldn’t help but laugh at the mistake jaehyun made when he placed doyoung’s ring on his middle finger instead of his ring finger.

after that, they were asked to kiss to end the ceremony.

“i now call you, husbands. you may now kiss,” the officiator said.

doyoung immediately grab onto jaehyun’s neck and pulled him in, closing their gap between them with a kiss.

jaehyun kissed back as he wrapped his arms around doyoung.

the audience cheered as they continued to kiss, happy that the two lovers have finally experienced their happy ending.

behind the excitement, there was mark and yukhei. they standing side by side as they watched the ceremony unfold.

mark may have been envious of how jaehyun’s love story came to be, but that doesn’t mean that he couldn’t have what the older has.

“what are you thinking?” yukhei asked as he noticed the other spacing out.

“do you think we could have our happy ending as well?” mark asked.

“you know mark, not every love story has a happy ending,” yukhei answered as he looked at the other.

“does your love story have a happy ending?” mark asked.

yukhei chuckled as he wrapped his arm around mark’s shoulder.

“why? are you afraid that you might be the only one having a sad ending?”

“no, its not that.”

“don’t worry mark, my love story hasn’t even started yet,” yukhei said.

“why? shouldn’t it have started already considering you are prince?” mark asked.

“why would i have a love story when the one i love isn’t here yet?”

mark was about answer, but someone just had to call out to them.

“hey! don’t steal our spotlight, will you!” jaehyun shouted at the two which caused the audience to laugh.

as doyoung laughed, he couldn’t help but admire the person beside him. he couldn’t believe that this man, jung jaehyun, was finally his.

imagine if he hadn’t went out that night. he wouldn’t have been able to meet jaehyun. he was glad that he did. he was more than glad that jaehyun was his.

because to doyoung, jaehyun was his home.

and to jaehyun, doyoung was his fairy tale ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!!
> 
> this has been the ending for at night, when our worlds collide!
> 
> first and foremost, i want to thank everyone for supporting my first chaptered fic. your support has been very meaningful to me and it gave meaning to the story that i have wrote. i am glad that i have been able to write this, and i hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> since this is my first, i know this will hold a special place in my heart.
> 
> i might make a sequel for this for lumark, who knows.
> 
> i also want to thank that one person who suggested the side ship of this fic.
> 
> im going to make this short since i dont want to bore everyone hehe.
> 
> anyways, thank you for reading and have a nice day!!'
> 
> stay safe and always drink water! <3

**Author's Note:**

> check out my socials!
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/jaejaesus)   
>  [curious cat](https://curiouscat.qa/119th)


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